Tumor-associated antigen (B345)

ABSTRACT

Tumour-associated antigen B345 and DNA molecules coding therefor.

[0001] The present application claims the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. § 119, of the earlier filing dates of German Patent Application No. DE 100 33 080.0, filed Jul. 7, 2000; German Patent Application No. DE 101 19 294.0, filed Apr. 19, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/243,158, filed Oct. 25, 2000; and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/297,747, filed Jun. 14, 2001. The contents of each of these applications are entirely incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The invention relates to the chemotherapy of tumour diseases.

[0003] Normal body cells are subject to a strictly regulated system which controls growth, cell division and the dying off of certain cells. Thus, an adult's body cells divide only when they are replacing dead cells or healing an injury. Cancer cells, on the other hand, carry on growing out of control, they accumulate and form a tumour. When a tumour reaches a critical size, cancer cells may be transported through the bloodstream or lymphatic system into other parts of the body and form colonies there (metastases). Not all tumours are cancerous, as benign tumours do not metastasise and are therefore not usually life-threatening as they can be surgically removed. More detailed information on this subject and the other aspects of tumour formation discussed hereinafter can be found in the following publications: Rauscher and Vogt, 1997; Kastan, 1997; Hesketh, 1995; Pusztai, Lewis and Yap, 1995.

[0004] The transformation of a healthy cell into a cancer cell may be triggered by a whole range of factors, such as environmental influences, radiation, viruses or chemical reagents. However, epigenetic modifications (methylations, acetylations and altered chromatin structure) and genetic modifications (point mutation, deletion, amplification, translocation) also play a crucial role in tumour development.

[0005] Mutations in coding regions of genes which are involved in regulating cell proliferation may contribute to the conversion of a normal cell into a tumour cell, as the transformed cell has growth advantages over its healthy neighbouring cell.

[0006] Cancer is therefore produced by an accumulation of inherited or acquired mutations in critical protooncogenes or tumour suppresser genes.

[0007] Cell proliferation is under the control of various gene systems, whereas products of oncogenes are involved in signal transmission from the cell surface to the cell nucleus, cyclin-dependent protein kinase and the inhibitors thereof accompany the cell through the cell cycle. Not infrequently, disorders in the synthesis of these proteins are found in tumour cells. The p53 protein plays a crucial role.

[0008] Proteins of the RB protein type regulate the availability of critical transcription factors.

[0009] The genes which are highly regulated in tumour tissues are usually the starting point for more detailed analyses and as proteins of all kinds of functions are highly expressed, the approach for therapeutic interventions may take many forms. The objective of cancer research is therefore to find new target molecules (so-called targets) for therapeutic interventions, which can then be used for a targeted therapy with few side effects.

[0010] The primary objective is therefore to detect molecular changes between normal tissue and tumour at the level of gene expression (“transcription level”), which should identify new targets, on the one hand, and may be used to develop or find substances for inhibiting malfunctions, on the other hand.

[0011] A whole range of different methods of identifying and characterising new targets which form the starting point for developing new therapeutic agents are based on drawing up differential mRNA transcription profiles between tumours and normal tissues. These include differential hybridisation, establishing subtractions cDNA banks (“representational difference analysis”; Hubank and Schatz, 1994; Diatchenko et al., 1996) and the use of DNA chip technology or the SAGE method (Velculescu et al., 1995).

[0012] As well as immunotherapeutic approaches, targeted chemotherapy plays an essential role in the treatment of cancer. By chemotherapy is meant the administration of substances which have either a cytostatic or cytotoxic/cytolytic effect as a result of interfering with the metabolism, signal transduction and cell division processes of malignant cells. Chemotherapeutic agents can be divided into various categories on the basis of influencing specific targets in the tumour cell, the type of cellular interaction and interaction with a specific phase of the cell cycle.

[0013] The type of cancer treatment depends on the stage of the tumour, the critical point being whether metastases are already present and how far they have spread through the body. The administration of cell toxins for cancer treatment, as well as surgical intervention and radiotherapy, is an integral part of present-day therapeutic concepts in oncology.

[0014] Chemotherapy has essentially two main aims: the primary one is to cure cancer; this means that the tumour disappears and does not return. If a cure is no longer possible for various reasons, attempts are made to restrict or control the growth and spread of the tumour.

[0015] In principle, substances used in chemotherapy are effective in all dividing cells. Tumour cells, however, are more sensitive to chemotherapeutic agents than, healthy cells, as it is mainly strongly proliferating cells which are attacked.

[0016] Every tissue has its own growth characteristics, including cell division, stoppage of growth, differentiation and ageing, which are affected and regulated by internal and external factors. Many of the cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents currently used are effective only on proliferating cells (not in the G0 phase of cell division). Both normal and cancer cells are attacked. The destruction of normal cells may lead to severe side effects; e.g. destruction of the blood cell-producing tissues of the bone marrow (myelosuppression).

[0017] Chemotherapeutic agents are divided into various categories depending on how they affect specific substances within the tumour cell, the cellular processes with which the drugs interact and the phase of the cell cycle which they influence. This information is necessary to oncologists in order to decide which preparations can be combined with one another in the therapy.

[0018] The highly regulated genes in tumour tissues are thus potential new target structures and, as proteins of all kinds of functions are highly expressed, this is a very versatile approach for therapeutic interventions.

[0019] The goal of cancer research is therefore to find new targets for therapeutic interventions which can then be used for targeted therapy with fewer side effects, compared with the therapeutic agents currently used.

[0020] In tumour tissues highly regulated genes are points of attack and hence potential target structures for chemotherapy.

[0021] The problem of the present invention was to provide a new protein, preferably expressed by tumour cells, which is a target molecule for intervention using chemotherapeutic methods.

[0022] This problem was solved by first producing a cDNA subtraction library, using RDA (“representational difference analysis”) between a lung-adenocarcinoma cell line (A549) and normal lung tissue. In order to select the antigens overexpressed in the tumour the cDNA clones obtained were then sequenced and compared with sequences available in data banks. Among the annotated genes, there were 321 unknown ones, for which there were in most cases ESTs (“expressed sequence tags”)-entries in the data bank. After further qualitative PCR analysis in cDNA libraries of critical normal tissues and immunoprivileged tissues and more detailed data bank searches the number of candidate clones was restricted to 59, the ESTs of which do not come from critical normal tissues.

[0023] These clones were spotted onto Incyte DNA chips and hybridised with a whole range of tumour tissues and normal tissues as a reference. The mRNA expression profiles of EST fragments which are differentially, expressed in cancer tissues and normal tissues and belong to an as yet unknown gene were verified using various methods.

[0024] The length of the transcripts was determined by Northern blot analysis and the expression pattern in different cell systems was exactly characterised by quantitative PCR. Only unknown genes or ESTs with tumour-specific expression profiles were followed up and subjected to “full length cloning”. Potential ORFs (“open reading frames”) are converted into the corresponding amino acid sequence and analysed for any possible prediction of function by in silico strategies.

[0025] Human B345-cDNA was cloned, and the sequence obtained in a first attempt at cloning is shown in SEQ ID NO: 1. Sequence analysis of the human B345-cDNA cloned on this occasion showed a continuous open reading frame from position 215 to position 2461 (excluding stop codon) which, at the nucleotide and protein level, shows no homology or identity to the known sequences of the data banks. The data obtained from the Northern Blot experiments lead one to conclude that the B345 transcript is about 6.5 kb long. In a first attempt, a B345-cDNA with 5897 bp (excluding the polyA region) was obtained as the cloned region, while the presence of a polyadenylation signal and the PolyA tail at the 3′-end of the sequence indicated that the cDNA is complete in this region. Because no continuous reading frame appeared in the 5′ region of the cloned cDNA from position 1 to 214, it was initially assumed that the ATG at position 215, which also corresponds 75% to a Kozak translation initiation site (ACCATGT) (Kozak, 1987), is the start codon of B345.

[0026] In another cloning attempt, additional information about the sequence of B345 located further upstream was obtained by a standard method of molecular biology, specifically by so-called “Promotor Finder DNA Walking”.

[0027] Thus, the B345 sequence (SEQ ID NO: 1) obtained in the first cloning attempt was expanded in the 5′ region. The start of transcription was located precisely using primer extension analysis and is found at position 201 (SEQ ID NO: 3). By repeated sequencing in the 3′ region too, an additional base was found at position 2430, compared with the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 1, which leads to a shift in the reading frame and thus displaces the stop codon from position 2729 to 2791. The cDNA obtained (SEQ ID NO: 3) has an open reading frame which codes for a potential protein with a length of 836 amino acids (SEQ ID NO: 4). The translation initiation site at position 283 corresponds roughly 70% to a Kozak consensus sequence.

[0028] The promoter region 200 bp upstream of the presumed transcription start site contains neither a TATA nor a CCAAT box, but does contain a clear GC box, which is a binding site of the SP1 protein. The fact that the GC content in the 5′ region is more than 60% indicates a CpG Island (Bird, 1986).

[0029] The resulting primary amino acid sequence of B345 is shown in SEQ ID NO: 4. Analysis of the hydrophilicity plot of the amino acid sequence shows that the B345 protein has two characteristic hydrophobic domains which represent a signal peptide and a helical transmembrane domain (FIG. 6). This polarised structure indicates that B345 is an integral membrane protein.

[0030] The extracellular domain leads one to conclude that there is definitely one and possibly three CUB domains. CUB domains occur in various proteins, generally ones which have been regulated during the development of the embryo. A recent publication (Gerstein et al., 2000) demonstrates that proteins containing CUB domains are the most markedly defferentially regulated proteins in C. elegans. Since genes which play a key role in embryonic development perform corresponding functions in cancer, e.g. in cell division, cell proliferation or signal transmission, it can be assumed that overexpression of B345 in cells causes changes in the properties of substrate adhesion or the extracellular matrix. The B345 protein has 12 potential N-glycosylation sites which can be found in the presumed extracellular domain.

[0031] In view of its amino acid sequence it can be assumed that the B345 protein constitutes a β-Sheet secondary structure, as it is known that CUB domains fold into a β sandwich.

[0032] The intracellular domain (section 691-836) has no significant homologies. However, the whole C-terminus showed 82% identity over 124 amino acids with an EST (Acc No. AW063026) of human ovarian cancer cells.

[0033] Starting from the functions of other proteins containing CUB domains it can be concluded that the B345 transmembrane protein plays a part in the communication, interaction and/or the signal transduction with extracellular components or ligands. Moreover, the data of the expression analysis give a strong indication that B345 is implicated in the metastatic process of cancer, particularly cancer of the large intestine.

[0034] To clarify the physiological function and role of B345 in metastasis, the following methods of investigation may be used:

[0035] First, cell lines, preferably human cell lines, which do not endogenously express B345, were identified,,e.g. using TaqMan PCR. The cells were transfected with a plasmid which contains the B345 sequence and B345 was expressed. Changes in the morphology and/or migration characteristics, found e.g. by soft agar assay (Hamburger and Salmon, 1977) or migration assay (Liaw et al; 1995) of the B345 expressing cells compared with the untransfected cells, indicate that B345 plays a part in the biological process responsible. This is a clear indication of the involvement of B345 in the interaction of tumour cells with one another and/or with the extracellular matrix and hence of a function in metastasis.

[0036] Alternatively or in addition to this functional analysis, in a complementary approach, the expression of B345 in cells which express this protein endogenously was suppressed in order to extablish, again, any changes in the morphology or migration characteristics.

[0037] In addition, an investigation is optionally carried out to discover whether there are protein components which interact with B345 inter- or extracellularly (e.g. using the Yeast Two Hybrid System (Fields and Song, 1989).

[0038] Thus, in a first aspect, the invention relates to a tumour-specific polypeptide designated B345 with the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 4 or a polypeptide which is coded by a polynucleotide which hybridises under stringent conditions with a polynucleotide of the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 3 or a partial sequence thereof, as well as protein fragments or peptides derived therefrom.

[0039] In another aspect the present invention relates to an isolated DNA molecule coding for the tumour-specific polypeptide designated B345.

[0040] Preferably, the DNA molecule according to the invention is a polynucleotide having the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:3 or a fragment thereof or a DNA molecule which hybridises under stringent conditions with a DNA molecule of the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 3 or a partial sequence thereof, or a fragment thereof.

[0041] By “stringent conditions” is meant, for example: incubation overnight at 65° C.-68° C. with 6×SSC (1×SSC=150 mM NaCl, 15 mM Tri-sodium citrate), 5×Denhardt's solution, 0.2% SDS, 50 μg/ml salmon sperm DNA, followed by washing twice for 30 min with 2×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 65° C., once for 30 min with 0.2×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 65° C. and optionally finally rinsing with 0.1×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 65° C., or equivalent conditions.

[0042] The DNA molecules according to the invention code for (poly)peptides designated B345 with the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 4 or for protein fragments or peptides derived therefrom; thus, DNA molecules or fragments which contain deviations from the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 3 as a result of the degeneration of the genetic code are also included.

[0043] In one embodiment, the invention relates to an isolated DNA molecule of the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 3 or a fragment thereof, or a DNA molecule which hybridises with a DNA molecule having the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:3 or with a partial sequence thereof, coding for the natural B345 polypeptide or for a fragment thereof.

[0044] The B345 DNA molecules may be used in a so-called DNA vaccine for the immunotherapy of tumours.

[0045] The B345 DNA molecules according to the invention, preferably in recombinant form as plasmids, may be administered directly or as a component of a recombinant virus or bacterium. In theory, any gene-therapeutical method for the immunotherapy of cancer based on DNA (DNA vaccines) may be used on B345-DNA, both in vivo and ex vivo.

[0046] Examples of in vivo administration are the direct injection of “naked” DNA, either by intramuscular route or using a gene gun, which has been shown to lead to the formation of CTLs against tumour antigens. Examples of recombinant organisms are vaccinia virus, adenovirus or listeria monocytogenes (a summary was provided by Coulie, 1997). Moreover, synthetic carriers for nucleic acids such as cationic lipids, microspheres, micropellets or liposomes may be used for in vivo administration of nucleic acid molecules coding for B345 peptide. Different adjuvants which enhance the immune response may also be administered, e.g. cytokines, either in the form of proteins or plasmids coding for them. The application may optionally be combined with physical methods, e.g. electroporation.

[0047] An example of ex vivo administration is the transfection of dendritic cells as described by Tuting, 1997, or other APCs which are used as cellular cancer vaccine.

[0048] Thus, according to another aspect, the present invention relates to the use of cells which express B345, either per se or, in optionally modified form, after transfection with the corresponding coding sequence, in order to produce a cancer vaccine.

[0049] Alternatively to the natural B345-cDNA or fragments thereof, modified derivatives may be used. These include sequences with modifications which code for a protein (fragment) or peptides with greater immunogenicity; the same considerations apply to the modifications at the DNA level as to the peptides described above. Another type of modification is the lining up of numerous sequences, coding for immunologically relevant peptides, in the manner of a string of beads (Toes et al., 1997). The sequences may also be modified by the addition of auxiliary elements, e.g. functions which ensure more efficient release and processing of the immunogen (Wu et al., 1995). For example, by the addition of a locating sequence in the endoplasmatic reticulum (“ER targeting sequence”) the processing and hence the presentation and, lastly, the immunogenicity of the antigen can be increased.

[0050] In another aspect the present invention relates to a recombinant DNA molecule which contains B345 DNA, e.g. connected to a regulatory DNA sequence, particularly a heterologous regulatory DNA sequence, e.g. a promoter or enhancer.

[0051] In another aspect the present invention relates to antibodies against B345 or fragments thereof. Polyclonal antibodies may be obtained in conventional manner by immunising animals, particularly rabbits, by injecting the B345-antigen or fragments thereof, and then purifying the immunoglobulin.

[0052] Monoclonal anti-B345-antibodies may be obtained by standard procedures according to the principle described by Köhler and Milstein, 1975, by immunising animals, particularly mice, then immortalising antibody-producing cells of the immunised animals, e.g. by fusion with myeloma cells, and screening the supernatant of the resulting hybridomas by standard immunological assays for monoclonal anti-B345-antibodies. For therapeutic or diagnostic use in humans these animal antibodies may optionally be chimerised (Neuberger et al., 1984; Boulianne et al., 1984) or humanised (Riechmann et al., 1988; Graziano et al., 1995) in the conventional manner.

[0053] Human monoclonal anti-B345-antibodies (fragments) may also be obtained from so-called “Phage Display Libraries” (Winter et al., 1994; Griffiths et al., 1994; Kruif et al., 1995; McGuiness et al., 1996) and using transgenic animals (Bruggemann et al., 1996; Jakobovits et al., 1995).

[0054] The anti-B345-antibodies according to the invention may be used in immunohistochemical analyses for diagnostic purposes, or as therapeutic agents in cancer therapy. (One example of the successful use of a monoclonal antibody in cancer therapy is herceptin; an antibody against the proto-oncogene HER2. Herceptin can be used in breast cancer patients exhibiting an overexpression of HER2.)

[0055] According to another aspect the invention relates to the use of B345-specific antibodies for selectively delivering any desired substances to or into a tumour which expresses B345. Examples of such substances are cytotoxic agents or radioactive nuclides, the effect of which is to damage the area surrounding the tumour. Because of the relatively tumour-specific expression of B345 only mild side effects are to be expected. In another aspect substances for visualising tumours which express B345 may be used with the aid of B345-antibodies. This is useful for the diagnosis and for evaluating the course of therapy. Therapeutic and diagnostic uses for antibodies which may be used as anti-B345 antibodies are described in WO 95/33771.

[0056] The protein designated B345 according to the present invention and the protein fragments, peptides or peptide equivalents or peptidomimetics derived therefrom may be used in cancer therapy, e.g. to induce an immune response to tumour cells which express the corresponding antigen determinants. They are preferably used for the treatment of B345-positive tumours, particularly in lung and colon carcinoma.

[0057] B345 or peptides, peptide equivalents and peptidomimetics can be used for the immunotherapy of cancer, as described e.g. in WO 00/73438, to the disclosure of which reference is hereby made.

[0058] It is known that tumour-associated antigens may have tumour-specific mutations which contribute to an immunological differentiation between tumour and normal tissue (Mandruzzato et al., 1997; Hogan et al., 1998; Gaudi et al., 1999; Wölfel et al., 1994). In order to detect the presence of tumour-specific B345 mutations, appropriately using probes of the isolated cDNA according to the invention, the B345-cDNA from one or more different tumours is cloned and the sequences obtained are compared with normal tissue-B345-cDNA. Tests are carried out which are intended to show whether tumour-B345 peptides from a section of sequence which is mutated compared with normal tissue-B345 have greater immunogenicity than normal tissue-B345 peptides from the corresponding section. To confirm that some mutations are tumour-specific, antibodies against these regions may be generated and tumour cells may be investigated for the expression of possible mutations.

[0059] Thus, in another aspect, the present invention relates to B345-peptides, derived from regions of a tumour-expressed B345 which contain tumour-specific mutations.

[0060] It can be assumed, from the preferred expression of B345 in tumour cells, that this protein has an important function for the tumour, e.g. for its formation, infiltration and growth and thus constitutes a target for chemotherapeutic intervention.

[0061] With a view to its use as a target in targeted chemotherapy B345 is characterised in more detail so as to develop a suitable strategy for intervention with this function.

[0062] As the first step in the so-called “down-stream” functional analysis of B345, a bioinformatic analysis is conveniently carried out in a first step, to indicate the direction for the experimental validation of B345 as target.

[0063] For this analysis the bioinformatic concepts based on similarity and modular structure form an essential basis. Established bioinformatic tools for detecting similarities are BLAST (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST, Altschul et al., 1997) or FASTA (Pearson & Lipman, 1988), the specialised data banks such as Pfam (http://www.sanger.ac.uk/Pfam, Bateman et al., 2000) and SMART (http://smart.embl-heidelberg.de, Schultz et al., 2000), which take account of domain structures. To refine the analysis applications such as Clustal (http://www2.ebi.ac.uk/clustalw, Higgins et al., 1996) HMMer (http://hmmer.wustl.edu), PSI-BLAST (Altschul et al., 1997) and the PROSITE data bank (http://www.expasy.ch/prosite, Hofmann et al., 1999) may be used. Statistical methods of analysis which are not based on homologies make it possible to predict other structurally and functionally relevant properties such as the secondary structure and the occurrence of transmembrane segments and helix-turn-helix motifs. There are methods of predicting the secondary structure of proteins; Jpred (http://barton.ebi.ac.uk/servers/jpred.html, Cuff et al., 1998) is particularly worth mentioning. Predicting the secondary structure can underpin functional hypotheses, e.g. if the structure of the suspected homologue is known.

[0064] According to bioinformatic analysis B345 has a helical transmembrane domain, both the N-terminal and the C-terminal region being hydrophilic, leading to the conclusion that this protein is a transmembrane protein. The N-terminal, extracellular region has a few CUB domains which have a tendency to form disulphide bridges and are therefore involved in dimerisation or protein-protein interactions (Bork et al., 1993). The C-terminal, intracellular end shows homology with a receptor kinase and a C-kinase substrate.

[0065] B345 is subsequently subjected to biochemical and biological analysis.

[0066] In a subsequent step the function of B345 for the progress of the tumour is clarified; e.g. by proliferation assays in vitro or in animal models which overexpress the B345 gene under investigation (constitutively or inducibly) and as a control either express it in deleted (inactive) form or down-regulate it using antisense (cf. e.g. Grosveld and Kollias, 1992).

[0067] B345 may be used in screening assays to identify substances which modulate, particularly inhibit, the activity of this protein. In one embodiment an assay of this kind may consist, for example of introducing the B345 protein, or an active fragment thereof, into cells which react to the activity of B345 with proliferation or of expressing the corresponding B345 cDNA in the cell, and determining the proliferation of the cells in the presence and absence of a test substance.

[0068] One example of test cells might be cells with a low division rate, e.g. primary cells containing no endogenous B345. To determine the suitability of the cells for a screening assay, the cells are transformed with B345-cDNA, cultured and tested using standard assays, e.g. the incorporation of thymidine, for their ability to proliferate. On the basis of a significant increase in their proliferation after B345 expression they may be used as test cells, e.g. in High Throughput Screening Proliferation assays. Examples of proliferation assays in the High Throughput format, e.g. based on the MTS assay, are described in WO 98/00713.

[0069] Substances with a proliferation-inhibiting effect may be used to treat tumours with a significant B345 expression, particularly in carcinoma of the lung and colon.

SUMMARY OF THE FIGURES

[0070]FIG. 1A: expression profile of B345, B452 and B540 in individual lung carcinomas and lung tumour cell lines.

[0071]FIG. 1B: expression profile of B345 in normal large intestine tissue and tumour cell lines.

[0072]FIG. 1C: graphic representation of the alignment of B345, B452 and B540.

[0073]FIG. 2A: Northern Blot analysis of the tumour cell line A549 using a 490 bp long B345 PCR product

[0074]FIG. 2B: Northern Blot analysis of various normal tissues using a 490 bp long B345 PCR product

[0075]FIG. 2C: Northern Blot analysis of various cancer tissues using a 318 bp long B345 PCR product

[0076]FIG. 3 mRNA expression analysis of B345 by real-time PCR of tumour and normal tissues.

[0077]FIG. 4: mRNA expression analysis of B345 by real-time PCR of laser-microscope-prepared large bowel tumours (LCM) and normal large bowel tissue and tumour cell lines.

[0078]FIG. 5: Graphic representation of the gene structure of B345.

[0079]FIG. 6: Hydrophilicity and transmembrane blot of the B345 protein

[0080]FIG. 7: Potential protein structure of B345

DESCRIPTION OF THE TABLES

[0081] Tab. 1: Summary of the Northern Blot data for B345 in various normal tissues (1A), cancer cell lines (1B); and various normal tissues compared with the corresponding tumour tissue (1C)

[0082] Tab. 2A: Summary of the data for the quantitative PCR of B345 in various normal and cancer tissues

[0083] Tab. 2B: Summary of the data for the quantitative PCR of B345 in various normal tissues and microdissected colon adenocarcinoma tissues

[0084] Explanation of Symbols

[0085] +++ extremely positive

[0086] ++ strongly positive

[0087] + positive

[0088] (+) slightly positive

[0089] − negative

EXAMPLE 1

[0090] RDA (“Representational Difference Analysis”) of the human adenocarcinoma cell line of the lung (A549) and normal lung tissue.

[0091] The human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 (CCL 185) obtained from ATCC was cultured in T150 cell culture flasks. The nutrient medium used was MEM with 10% beat-inactivated, foetal calf serum and 2 mM of L-glutamine. Every 3 to 4 days the cells were split for propagation by trypsinisation 1:5 to 1:10. After about 80% confluence had been achieved, 4 ml of a trypsin solution (contents per litre: 8 g NaCl, 0.2 g KCl, 1.13 g anhydrous Na₂HPO₄, 0.2 g KH₂PO₄, 100 ml of 2.5% trypsin solution, 1 g EDTA-Na-salt; pH 7.2-7.4) were used per T150 cell culture flask to harvest the cells. The 4 ml were transferred into a 15 ml Falcon test tube, mixed with 8 ml of PBS, centrifuged at 1200 rpm in a Heraeus bench centrifuge (Megafuge 2.0 R) for 5 min at 4° C., the cell pellet was mixed with 1 ml of lysing buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl pH8, 140 mM NaCl, 1.5 mM MgCl₂, 0.5% NP40), shaken vigorously and centrifuged off in a 2 ml Eppendorf vessel at 12,000 rpm and at 4° C. for 5 min in a Sigma bench centrifuge (Sigma 202 MK). The supernatant was transferred into a new Eppendorf vessel and after the addition of 55 μl of 20% SDS solution extracted twice with double the volume of a CHCl₃/phenol (1:1 v/v) mixture and extracted once with a single volume of CHCl₃. The aqueous RNA-containing phase was mixed with 1/10 volume of 3M NaAc (pH5) and twice the volume of 96% EtOH and the RNA was precipitated overnight at −20° C. Starting from 1 mg of total RNA, the procedure for isolating poly-A(+)RNA using the polyATtract Kit (Promega) was carried out according to the manufacturer's instructions. The A549 poly-A(+)RNA was stored in a concentration of 1 mg/ml in DEPC-treated H₂O in aliquots at −80° C.

[0092] In order to carry out representational difference analysis (RDA; Hubank and Schatz, 1994; Diatchenko et al., 1996) the poly-A(+)RNA of the lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 was used as the “tester” and that of normal lung tissue (1 mg/ml; Clontech, Palo Alto; #6524-1) was used as the “driver”. The RDA was carried out using the PCR-select™ kit (Clontech, Palo Alto) in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, except that a modified primer/adapter-2-oligonucleotide system was used: adapter-2-alt-1 (SEQ ID NO: 31) and nested-PCR-primer-2-alt (SEQ ID NO: 32) and adapter-2-alt-2 (SEQ ID NO: 33). The newly generated primer/adapter sequences make it possible to excise the particular cDNA fragments subsequently, thanks to the presence of three new restriction enzyme cutting sites (Kpn I, Sac I and Xho I) in the sequence of the nested-PCR-primer-2-alt after the subtracted cDNA fragments have been cloned into the pPCRII vector. It was necessary to design a primer/adapter sequence with a plurality of available restriction enzyme cutting sites because point mutations could often be observed, caused by the PCR amplification steps, in the primer sequences in particular.

[0093] After the synthesis of double-stranded cDNA using oligo-dT, the cDNA of “tester” and “driver” obtained was digested with RsaI (RsaI is a restriction enzyme which recognises 4 bases and on a statistical average yields CDNA fragments which are 256 bp long). Equal parts of “tester-cDNA” were ligated with either adapter 1 or 2 and then separately hybridised with an excess of “driver-cDNA” at 65° C. Then the two mixtures were combined and subjected to a second hybridisation with fresh denatured “driver cDNA”. The concentrated “tester ”-specific cDNAs were then exponentially amplified by PCR, with primers specific to the adapters 1 and 2. To achieve further concentration, one aliquot from this reaction was subjected to a second PCR with specific nested primers. The exponentially amplified cDNA fragments resulting from this reaction were ligated directly into the pCRII vector (Invitrogen; “TA-cloning vector”) and then one third of the ligation mixture was transfected into competent E. coli (OneShot™, Invitrogen).

[0094] 712 positive transformants (blue-white selection) were obtained and cultivated in 96-well blocks in LB-Amp Medium (1.3 ml per well) for 48 h at 37° C. 750 μl of the E. coli suspensions were used per well for the preparation of the plasmid-DNA (96-well QIAgen minipreparation method according to the manufacturer's instructions). The remaining bacterial cultures were stored as glycerol stock cultures at −80° C.

[0095] A cDNA subtraction library consisting of 712 individual clones was obtained, in the form of both E. coli glycerol stock cultures and also purified plasmids.

EXAMPLE 2

[0096] DNA-sequencing and annotation of TAA candidates

[0097] The isolated plasmid-DNA of all the 712 clones (cf. Example 1) was sequenced by the Sanger method on an ABI-377 Prism apparatus. The sequences obtained were annotated using BioScout-Software (LION, Heidelberg) and subjected to data bank comparisons (Genbank). Of 712 clones, 678 were able to be sequenced and annotated. The rest (34) either only had poly(A) sequences as an insert or corresponded to a religated vector or could not be sequenced. Of the 678 annotatable sequences, 357 proved to be genes with a known function. The remaining 321 represented clones coding for genes with an unknown function; 59 of them did not even have entries in the human EST data bank. Known genes were not treated further. For those unknown genes for which an EST entry was available, the expression profile was evaluated: all those ESTs with >95% identity (BLAST) which belonged to the experimentally determined sequence of the subtraction libraries were examined. During annotation the material was subdivided into a) critical normal tissue, b) foetal, “disposable” and immunoprivileged tissue and c) tumours and tumour cell lines. On the basis of this “virtual mRNA profile” (“virtual Northern blot”) 200 clones for which no ESTs were found in group a) were selected for further experimental analyses (including the 59 clones for which there was no EST entry). To narrow down the candidate clones still further, from the sequences determined from the 200 selected clones, pairs of oligonucleotide primers were designed and synthesised. First, 8 different cDNA libraries derived from human tissue (GibcoBRL “SUPERSCRIPT™”), which are directionally cloned in pCMV-SPORT, were tested by qualitative PCR for the presence of the particular candidates. The CDNA libraries used came from heart tissue (#10419-018), liver (#10422-012), Leukocytes (#10421-022), kidney (#10420-016), lung (#10424-018), testis (#10426-013), brain (#10418-010) and foetal brain (#10662-013). The PCR conditions were as follows: 20 μl of total volume per PCR mixture contained 1× TaqPol buffer(50 mM KCl, 10 mM Tris-HCl pH 9, 0.1% Triton X-100), 1.5 mM MgCl₂, 0.2 mM dNTPs (Promega), 0.025 U/μl Taq-DNA-polymerase (Promega), 5 pM each of specific oligonucleotide primer for B345 (B345-D, SEQ ID NO: 34) and (B345-U, SEQ ID NO: 35) and 100 ng of the plasmid-DNA under investigation. Specific primers for GAPDH (SEQ ID NO: 36 and 37) were used as a control. To check the selective detection, the relevant B345 specific primer pairs, oligonucleotide primer (SEQ ID NO: 34) and (SEQ ID NO: 35), were tested in parallel for the isolated plasmid with the original B345 fragment (fragment of B345 CDNA originally isolated). The detectability of fragments of the expected length with a strong signal in one of the critical normal tissues (heart, liver, lung, kidney and leukocytes), but not in the cDNA libraries of immunoprivileged tissues (brain, foetal brain and testis) under these PCR conditions (1 cycle: 3′ 94° C.; 35 cycles: 1′ 94° C.-1′ 55° C.-1′ 72° C.; 1 cycle: 7′ 72° C.) was defined as the distinguishing criterion. Using this qualitative PCR analysis the number of candidates could be reduced to 56; clone B345 was in this already preselected group of candidates.

EXAMPLE 3

[0098] Expression analysis by cDNA chip hybridisation

[0099] In order to design a cDNA chip a number of clones from categories having all kinds of functions ranging from apoptosis to cell cycle regulation were selected from the dBEST data bank by a nucleotide sequence search. In all, 1299 IMAGE clones were obtained (of which 1024 are known genes) and sequenced to check them. Microtitre plates with bacteria which contain approximately 800 bp long sequences from the 3′ end of the gene in the vector were sent to Incyte Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (USA), where they were spotted onto 60 chips. In addition to these clones, 120 EST clones identified by RDA were also spotted onto the chips. The DNA chips thus produced were then hybridised with Cy3-labelled cDNA from normal tissue, tumour tissue and cell lines together with Cy5-labelled cDNA from a mixture of nine different normal tissues and the two signals were compared in order to standardise the expression values. The calculations were partly carried out in S-Plus or in Microsoft Excel. Evaluation of the chip experiments produced a very similar expression profile for B345, B540 and B452 when hybridisation was carried out with lung cancer probes of cell lines and patient material (cf. FIG. 1A). A tumour-associated expression profile of this kind could also be found for B345 when colon adenocarcinoma was compared with normal colon tissue (cf. FIG. 1B).

[0100] The sequence alignment of B345, B540 and B452 clearly showed an overlap between the individual EST fragments. It could therefore be assumed that the three clones are ESTs of one and the same gene. The resulting DNA section covers a length of 843 bp (cf. FIG. 1C) and was used in further experiments to search public data banks. The search results shows no significant homology with known DNA or protein sequences, indicating that B345 is a hitherto unknown gene.

EXAMPLE 4

[0101] Expression analysis of B345 using Northern Blots:

[0102] B345 is a gene which is highly regulated in tumour tissues (cf. FIG. 1A and 1B, Tab. 1a and Tab. 1B) according to DNA Chip analyses.

[0103] In order to confer the transcription profile obtained, on the one hand, and determine the length of the expected mRNA for full size cloning, on the other hand, a Northern Blot analysis was carried out for B345 using human cell lines and the “Human Multiple Tissue Northern Blots” (Clontech and Invitrogen). The probes used were 490 bp and 318 bp long PCR products of B345 (primer (SEQ ID NO: 5 and SEQ ID NO: 6 or SEQ ID NO: 7 and SEQ ID NO: 8)) labelled with [α-³²P]dCTP (NEN, Boston). The hybridisation took place at 68° for 2′ h; visualisation by standard autoradiography (Hyperfilm, Amersham). FIG. 2A, 2B and 2C and Tab. 1a and Tab. 1B and 1C show the results of this analysis: FIG. 2A the analysis of the cell line A549, FIG. 2B the analysis of 12 normal tissues (Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes (PBL), lung, placenta, small intestine, liver, kidney, spleen, thymus, colon, skeletal muscle, heart and brain) and FIG. 2C the analysis of 8 cancer cell lines (promyelocytic leukaemia HL60, HeLa-S3, chronic myelogenic leukaemia K-562, lymphoblastic leukaemia MOLT-4, Burkitt 's lymphoma (Raji), colon adenocarcinoma SW480, lung adenocarcinoma A549 and melanoma G361). The B345 transcript is 6.5 kb long.

EXAMPLE 5

[0104] Analysis of the expression profile of B345 at the RNA level using quantitative RT-PCR (real time PCR or TaqMan analysis).

[0105] In order to quantify more precisely the expression of mRNA in the various normal and tumour tissues, “real time PCR” was used, which makes it possible to calculate the RNA concentration compared with an external standard.

[0106] The RNA was isolated from frozen tissue with Trizol according to the instructions provided by the manufacturer, Gibco. To eliminate any contaminating DNA the prepared RNA was digested with DNAase I as follows: 3 μg of total RNA were incubated for 15 minutes at 37° C. with 20 μl of 5× AMV buffer (Promega), 1 μl of RNasin (Promega) and 2 μl of DNase I (Boehringer Mannheim) in a total volume of 80 μl. 120 μl of phenol:chloroform:isoamyl alcohol (25:24:1) were added, mixed in a vortexer and briefly centrifuged. The aqueous phase was removed, 120 μl of chloroform:isoamyl alcohol (24:1) were added and the mixture was centrifuged as before. The purified RNA was precipitated with ethanol and dissolved in water.

[0107] Then the total RNA was transcribed into cDNA with reverse transcriptase (Superscript, Gibco, BRL): 1 μl of oligo dT primer (Promega) was added to 3 μg of total RNA and made up to a final volume of 10 μl with water. After 5 minutes′ incubation at 70° C. the solution was cooled for 5 minutes at room temperature. 5 μl of RT reaction buffer (5×, Gibco, BRL), 2.5 μl of dNTPs (10 mM of each, Boehringer Mannheim), 1 μl of RNas in (10 U/μl, Promega), 1.5 μl of Superscript (10 U/μl, Gibco, BRL) and 5 μl of water were added and the mixture was incubated for 1 hour at 42° C. and the reaction was stopped by incubating for 3 minutes at 95° C.

[0108] In order to prepare a cDNA pool of a specific type of tissue or tumour, 3 to 10 different individual preparations from different patients were mixed together in equal proportions. The quantitative measurement of the “household genes” β-actin, GAPDH and tubulin in CDNA pools was carried out as follows:

[0109] A) β-Actin-TaqMan PCR (Perkin Elmer)

[0110] For details of the principle of the TaqMan method cf. manufacturer's information (Perkin Elmer). A TaqMan PCR run contained samples of β-actin control sequence with 10², 10³, 10⁴, 10⁵ and 10⁶ copies/μl (Perkin Elmer) to determine the standard curve, a negative control without DNA and the cDNA pools which are to be quantified. All the samples were analysed in triplicate. For a 25 μl reaction mixture, 1 μl of cDNA, 2.5 μl of 10× buffer A (Perkin Elmer), 4 μl of MgCl₂ (25 mM, (Perkin Elmer)), 0.5 μl of each nucleotide (10 mM of dATP, dCTP, dGTP; 20 mM of dUTP), 0.125 μl of TaqMan probe (20 μM; TaqMan probe for B-actin (SEQ-ID NO: 20 fluorescence-labelled with 6-carboxyfluorescein at the 5′ end and with 6-carboxytetramethylrhodamine at the 3′ end), 1 μl of each β-actin-specific primer (20 μM each of Forward primer SEQ-ID NO: 21 and Reverse primer SEQ-ID NO: 22), 0.25 μl of AmpErase uracil N-glycosylase “UNG” (1 U/μl, Perkin Elmer), and 0.125 μl of AmpliTaq Gold (5 U/μl, Perkin Elmer) were mixed together, transferred into MicroAmp Optical Tubes (Perkin Elmer) and sealed with MicroAmp Optical Caps. The PCR was carried out as follows: one cycle of 2 minutes at 50° C. for the UNG reaction, one cycle of 10 minutes at 95° C. to activate the AmpliTaq, 40 cycles each of 15 seconds at 95° and 1 minute at 60° C. Then the probes were kept at 25° C. The data was evaluated using the “Sequence Detection System 1.5b1” programme (PE Applied Biosystems), basically by comparing the fluorescence signals of the cDNA probes being quantified with the signals of the control plasmid dilutions of known concentration.

[0111] B) GAPDH-TaqMan PCR

[0112] For quantifying GAPDH, which was used like β-actin or tubulin to standardise the RNAs used, the following primers or probes were used. The TaqMan probe used for GAPDH was a probe (SEQ-ID NO: 23) labelled at the 5′ end with tetrachlorofluorescein and at the 3′ end with carboxymethylrhodamine (Forward GAPDH primer: SEQ-ID NO: 24 and Reverse primer: SEQ-ID NO: 25). The reactions were carried out as described above.

[0113] C) Tubulin-SybrGreen PCR (Perkin Elmer)

[0114] For the principle of SybrGreen PCR cf. the manufacturer's information (Perkin Elmer). A SybrGreen PCR run contained samples of tubulin control plasmid with 10², 10³, 10⁴, 10⁵ and 10⁶ copies/μl (Perkin Elmer) to determine the standard curve, a negative control without DNA and the cDNA pools which are to be quantified. All the samples were analysed in triplicate. For a 25 μl reaction mixture, 1 μl of cDNA, 2.5 μl of 10× SybrGreen buffer (Perkin Elmer), 3,5 μl MgCl₂ (25 mM, Perkin Elmer) ), 0.5 μl of each primer (20 μM each, Perkin Elmer, Tubulin Forward (SEQ-ID NO:26); Tubulin reverse (SEQ-ID NO: 27), 0.25 μl of AmpErase uracil N-glycosylase “UNG” (1 U/μl, Perkin Elmer), and 0.25 μl of AmpliTaq Gold (5 U/μl, Perkin Elmer) were mixed together, transferred into MicroAmp Optical Tubes (Perkin Elmer) and sealed with MicroAmp Optical Caps. The PCR was carried out as follows: one cycle of 2 minutes at 50° C. for the UNG reaction, one cycle of 10 minutes at 95° C. to activate the AmpliTaq, 40 cycles each of 15 seconds at 95° C. and 1 minute at 60° C. Then the probes were kept at 25° C. The data was evaluated using the “Sequence Detection System 1.5b1” programme (PE Applied Biosystems), basically by comparing the fluorescence signals of the cDNA probes being quantified with the signals of the control plasmid dilutions of known concentration.

[0115] D) B345-TaqMan PCR

[0116] The quantitative TaqMan-PCR analysis of B345 was carried out as described for the “household genes”. However, B345 specific primers (SEQ ID NO: 28 and SEQ ID NO: 29) (200 ng/μl) and a B345 specific probe (SEQ ID NO: 30, 20 μM) labelled at the 5′ end with tetrachlorofluorescein and at the 3′ end with carboxymethylrhodamine were used. The PCR product of B345 with the primers SEQ ID NO: 28 and SEQ ID NO: 29 with a known copy number was used as the standard.

[0117]FIG. 3 shows the TaqMan expression analysis (FIG. 3A; β-actin; FIG. 3B: tubulin). It was found that B345 is expressed more highly in large bowel cancer tissue than in normal tissue (cf. Tab. 2a). However, both the normal tissue and the tumour tissue constitute a very heterogeneous mixture of different cell types. Furthermore, the proportion of tumour cells in the tumour tissue varies considerably from about 30 to 80%. In order to minimise this biological heterogeneity, the epithelial cells of the large intestine, which are the cells of origin of adenocarcinoma, and cancer cells or cancer regions were specifically prepared by laser microdissection. Tissue sections 10 μm thick were prepared using a Leica, Jung CM1800 cryomicrotome and placed on a polyethylene-coated slide (Böhm et al., 1997). The sections, dried at ambient temperature for about 30 minutes, were incubated with Mayers haematoxylin (SIGMA DIAGNOSTICS) and then washed under running water for five minutes to remove any non-specifically bound dye. After 5 minutes, drying at 37° C., the laser microdissection was carried out. This was done using the PALM laser microscope (PALM GmbH, Bernried, Germany) and about 2000 to 5000 cells were prepared. The cDNA obtained by Reverse Transcription was analysed by Real Time PCR here too. The results show that the B345 expression in large intestine carcinoma cell lines and in patient material is comparatively many times higher than that of the normal tissue of the large intestine. For standardisation, the expression level of GAPDH was determined (cf. FIG. 4 and Tab. 2B).

EXAMPLE 6

[0118] a) Cloning of the cDNA of B345

[0119] Searching through data banks for sequences of gene fragments (ESTs, expressed sequence tags) which can be used for the “in silico” cloning of B345 yielded an overlapping EST contig of about 1500 bp. The polyA region at one of the ends indicated the orientation of the DNA section in relation to 5′-3′ orientation; which is essential when designing new primers for the amplification of B345-specific cDNA fragments.

[0120] First, the potential 3′ end described by the data bank analysis was verified by experimental approaches. RNA from the lung carcinoma cell line Calu 6 (AACC No. HTB56) was reverse transcribed using the primer (SEQ ID NO: 9) and the resulting single-strand cDNA was amplified by PCR with the gene-specific primer SEQ ID NO: 5 and the adaptor primer SEQ ID NO: 10.

[0121] For a 25 μl PCR mixture, 1 μl of the cDNA pool was mixed in water with 2.5 μl of 10×Taq buffer (Promega), 1.5 μl of MgCl₂ (25 mM, Promega), 0.5 μl of dNTPs (10 mM each, Boehringer Mannheim), 1 μl of primer mixture (20 μM each), 0.15 μl of Taq polymerase (Promega). The PCR was carried out as follows: 1× 94° C. for 3 minutes; 30× 94° C. for 30 seconds, 55° C. for 30 seconds, 72° C. for 1 minute; kept at 4° C. The PCR was analysed on a 1.2% agarose gel.

[0122] The two primers were then used to sequence the purified PCR product. The sequences found showed high homology with the DNA fragment cloned “in silico” (including the polyA tract).

[0123] Since the cloning of 5′ terminal sequences is usually a very laborious process, various methods were used below to solve the problem.

[0124] Here again, Calu 6 was used as the starting cell line. After reverse transcription of the RNA with the primer SEQ ID NO: 9 and synthesis of the second strand, a linker consisting of the two oligos SEQ ID NO: 11 and SEQ ID NO: 12 was ligated onto the double stranded cDNA (Abe et al., 1992). The resulting LoneLinker cDNA library was then amplified with the gene-specific primer SEQ ID NO: 6 in linear manner over 35 cycles. One aliquot of the B345-enriched cDNA could then be further amplified with the primers SEQ ID NO: 13 and LLEcoRIA SEQ ID NO: 11. After gel electrophoresis of one aliquot and Southern analysis with the gene-specific oligo SEQ ID NO: 14, it was possible to locate a 5 kb band. This fragment was then sequenced step by step and aligned with the sequence of the EST contig.

[0125] In order to check the resulting sequence from the LLcDNA cloning, two fragments were amplified by PCR (SEQ ID NO: 15 and SEQ ID NO: 16 or SEQ ID NO: 6 and SEQ ID NO: 17) and used to screen Lambda gt10 cDNA phage libraries. Positive plaques were isolated and amplified by PCR using gt10-specific primers (SEQ ID NO: 18 and SEQ ID NO: 19). Subsequent sequencing and alignment with the sequences led to the assumption that this is a differentially spliced product. The splice donor, acceptor and lariat sequence were found subsequently. Using PCR by a suitable combination of primers, searches were carried out in various cell lines for differential splice products; in all the cell lines screened, only one product was found and led,to the gene structure shown in FIG. 5. The cDNA shown has an open reading frame (ORF) which codes for a potential protein 749 amino acids long. The translation initiation site at position 215 corresponds to approximately 75% of a Kozak consensus sequence. The results obtained in this experiment led to the transcription initiation site being determined exactly by primer extension in another experiment (Example 6b), in order to be certain that the 5′ end found is actually the 5′ end of B345. The amino acid sequence of B345 derived from the cDNA (SEQ ID NO: 1) obtained in this cloning test is shown in SEQ ID NO: 2.

[0126] b) Second cloning test; determining the 5′ and promotor region of B345

[0127] Using the Promotor Finder DNA Walking Kit (Clontech) and subsequent primer extension reaction, the 5′ region and the promoter region and also the exact transcription initiation site were determined. The 5′ region was amplified using a genomic DNA library produced by Clontech with B345 specific primers (SEQ ID NO:38 or nested SEQ ID NO: 39) and Adaptor Primer in the kit. To determine the exact start of transcription, the Primer Extension reaction was carried out. To do this, the primer SEQ ID NO: 40 was labelled with 10 U of T4 Polynukleotide Kinase (Promega) and 3 μl of [γ-³²P]ATP (3000 Ci/mmol) at the 5′ end according to standard protocols (Sambrook et al., 1989). The labelled oligonucleotide was purified by precipitation. For the primer extension reaction, 10,000 cpm of oligonucleotide were used in a total volume of 20 μl to 25 μg of Total RNA of the Colo 205 cell line (ATCC:CCL-222).

[0128] The RNA of the cell line was reverse transcribed with the radioactively labelled primer and applied to a 10% polyacryamide gel. To determine the exact band length a PCR fragment of nt 1000-nt 1362 was sequenced with ³⁵S labelled nucleotides and also applied. The fragment of 209 nucleotides resulting from the elongation of the reverse primer fixes the start of transcription precisely at position 201. In this way the B345 sequence obtained in Example 6a was extended in the 5′ region and a new start codon was located at position 283. By repeated sequencing even in the 3′ region, an additional base, compared with the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 1, was found at position 2430, leading to a shift in the reading frame and thus displaces the stop codon from position 2729 to 2791. The cDNA (SEQ ID NO: 3) obtained in this experiment has an open reading frame which codes for a potential protein 836 amino acids long (SEQ ID NO: 4).

EXAMPLE 7

[0129] Bioinformatic analysis of the function of B345

[0130] The resulting primary amino acid sequence of B345 is shown in SEQ ID NO: 4. Analysis of the hydrophilicity plot of the amino acid sequence using the method of Kyte and Doolittle (1982) shows that the B345 protein has two characteristic hydrophobic domains (amino acids pos. 1-29 and 666-691), which represent a signal peptide and a helical transmembrane domain (FIG. 6). This polarised structure indicates that B345 is an integral membrane protein. The transmembrane helix connects an extracellular section about 666 amino acids long and a short intracellular section (145 amino acids) (cf. FIG. 7).

[0131] The extracellular domain also shows clear signs of the existence of a CUB domain at positions 220-350 and signs of 2 possible other CUB domains in the region of amino acids 425-660. CUB domains occur at various proteins, generally regulated during the development of the embryo. In addition, CUB domains can sometimes also be found at EGF (Epidermal Growth Factor)-like domains. A recent publication (Gerstein et al., 2000) demonstrates that proteins containing CUB domains are the most markedly differentially regulated proteins in C. elegans. Since genes which play a key role in embryo development also have analogous functions in cancer, it can be assumed that the overexpression of B345 in cells brings about a change in the properties of the substrate adhesion or the extracellular matrix. The protein also has 12 potential N-glycosylation sites which can be found in the predicted extracellular domain, which concurs with the predicted orientation of the protein.

[0132] With a BLAST hit (E-value: 5.8×10⁻²) for the region of amino acids 235 to 282 of B345 it was possible to identify a complement-activating component of the reactive factor (RARF) from mus musculus. The alignment is located within the CUB domain 1 of B345.

[0133] The CUB domains 2 and 3 (section 425-535 and 545-660) exhibit marginal homology with the human and fugu procollagen C proteinase enhancer protein (PCOLCE). These regions occur in the part of PCOLCE which contains a CUB domain tandem repeat (E-values: 0.5 (human) and 2.7 (fugu)). CUB domains sometimes occur in repeats.

[0134] Presumably, the B345 protein forms a β-sheet secondary structure, as it is known that CUB domains fold into a β sandwich.

[0135] The intracellular domain (section 691-836) has no significant homologies. However, the total C-terminus aligned with an EST (AW063026) of human ovarian cancer cells (82% identity over 124 amino acids).

EXAMPLE 8

[0136] Determining the precise genetic structure of B345

[0137] First of all, Bac clones were sought in public data banks (BLAST search) which contain the B345 gene. The Bac clones Ac068625 and Ac010170 contained a major part of the gene. With intron-spanning primers, splice acceptor and donor sequences were sought in Colo 205 cDNA and genomic DNA was sought as a template. The PCR procedure was carried out as follows: 1× 95° C. for 2 minutes, 35× 95° C. for 15 seconds, 68° C. for 3 minutes and then kept at 4° C. The PCR was analysed on a 1.2% agarose gel and the lengths of the PCR products of the 2 templates were compared with identical primer combinations. It was found that B345 consists of 8 exons, separated by 7 introns (FIG. 5).

[0138] The chromosomal location of the gene was determined by fluorescence-in situ-hybridisation (FISH). The human, digoxigenin-labelled B345 probe together with the biotin-labelled probe of B47a2 (Knight et al., 1997), which is found at the sub-telomeric region of the 3p arm of the chromosome, was hybridised with metaphase chromosomes of two “normal” individuals (Lichter et al., 1988). The hybridised digoxygenin probe was detected by anti-sheep-Dig (Boehringer Mannheim FRG) and rabbit anti-sheep FITC-labelled antibodies. The biotin-labelled probe, on the other hand, was made visible with mouse anti-biotin and rabbit-anti-mouse (TRITC) and by subsequently staining with DAPI. The FISH results show that a majority of the metaphases have clear signals on one or both chromatides of chromosome 3 in the region p21-p23. The co-location of the B47a2 (TRITC) probe on the same chromosomal arm served to confirm the position. TABLE 1A Tissue expression PBL − lung ++ placenta + small intestine + liver − kidney ++ spleen − thymus − colon + skeletal muscle − heart − brain −

[0139] TABLE 1B cell line expression promyelocytic leukaemia HL60 − HELA cells S3 − chronic myelogenic leukaemia K-562 + lymphoblastic leukaemia MOLT-4 − Burkitt's lymphoma (Raji) − colon adenocarcinoma SW480 +++ lung adenocarcinoma A549 + melanoma G361 −

[0140] TABLE 1C Tissue Expression Oesophagus Tumor (+) Normal Oesophagus (+) Stomach Tumor − Normal Stomach + Colon Tumor +++ Normal Colon ++ Rectum Tumor + Normal Rectum (+)

[0141] TABLE 2A Expression B345/ Expression B345 Tissue Actin Tubulin Lung Adenocarcinoma + + Lung Adenocarcinoma + + Normal Lung − bis (+) (+) Colon Adenocarcinoma ++ ++ Colon Adenocarcinoma +++ +++ Normal Colon − bis (+) + Breast IDC + + Breast − − Hodgkin's Lymphoma − − Spleen − − Testis − −

[0142] TABLE 2B Cell lines and Tissues Expression B345/GAPDH Colon Adenocarcinoma SW480 + Normal Colon (Clontech) (+) Normal Colon (Invitrogen) (+) Lung Adenocarcinoma A549 (+) Colon Adenocarcinoma Colo 205 +++ PG 102142 Tumor (Colon Ac.) +++ PG 21900 Tumor (Colon Ac.) ++ PG 7066 Tumor (Colon Ac.) +++ PG 32389 Tumor (Colon Ac.) ++

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0 SEQUENCE LISTING <160> NUMBER OF SEQ ID NOS: 40 <210> SEQ ID NO 1 <211> LENGTH: 5897 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Homo sapiens <220> FEATURE: <221> NAME/KEY: misc_feature <222> LOCATION: (5348)...(5348) <223> OTHER INFORMATION: n is any nucleotide of a, t, g or c <221> NAME/KEY: misc_feature <222> LOCATION: (5360)...(5360) <223> OTHER INFORMATION: n is any nucleotide of a, t, g or c <221> NAME/KEY: misc_feature <222> LOCATION: (5425)...(5425) <223> OTHER INFORMATION: n is any nucleotide of a, t, g or c <221> NAME/KEY: misc_feature <222> LOCATION: (5438)...(5438) <223> OTHER INFORMATION: n is any nucleotide of a, t, g or c <221> NAME/KEY: 5′UTR <222> LOCATION: (1)..(214) <221> NAME/KEY: CDS <222> LOCATION: (215)..(2464) <221> NAME/KEY: 3′UTR <222> LOCATION: (2465)..(5897) <400> SEQUENCE: 1 cttgagatat tagaattcgc gactcctgaa ctgcggggtc tctatcgcac tgctaggggt 60 tctgctgctg ggtgcggcgc gcctgccgcg cggggcagaa gcttttgaga ttgctctgcc 120 acgagaaagc aacattacag ttctcataaa gctggggacc ccgactctgc tggcaaaacc 180 ctgttacatc gtcatttcta aaagacatat aacc atg ttg tcc atc aag tct gga 235 Met Leu Ser Ile Lys Ser Gly 1 5 gaa aga ata gtc ttt acc ttt agc tgc cag agt cct gag aat cac ttt 283 Glu Arg Ile Val Phe Thr Phe Ser Cys Gln Ser Pro Glu Asn His Phe 10 15 20 gtc ata gag atc cag aaa aat att gac tgt atg tca ggc cca tgt cct 331 Val Ile Glu Ile Gln Lys Asn Ile Asp Cys Met Ser Gly Pro Cys Pro 25 30 35 ttt ggg gag gtt cag ctt cag ccc tcg aca tcg ttg ttg cct acc ctc 379 Phe Gly Glu Val Gln Leu Gln Pro Ser Thr Ser Leu Leu Pro Thr Leu 40 45 50 55 aac aga act ttc atc tgg gat gtc aaa gct cat aag agc atc ggt tta 427 Asn Arg Thr Phe Ile Trp Asp Val Lys Ala His Lys Ser Ile Gly Leu 60 65 70 gag ctg cag ttt tcc atc cct cgc ctg agg cag atc ggt ccg ggt gag 475 Glu Leu Gln Phe Ser Ile Pro Arg Leu Arg Gln Ile Gly Pro Gly Glu 75 80 85 agc tgc cca gac gga gtc act cac tcc atc agc ggc cga atc gat gcc 523 Ser Cys Pro Asp Gly Val Thr His Ser Ile Ser Gly Arg Ile Asp Ala 90 95 100 acc gtg gtc agg atc gga acc ttc tgc agc aat ggc act gtg tcc cgg 571 Thr Val Val Arg Ile Gly Thr Phe Cys Ser Asn Gly Thr Val Ser Arg 105 110 115 atc aag atg caa gaa gga gtg aaa atg gcc tta cac ctc cca tgg ttc 619 Ile Lys Met Gln Glu Gly Val Lys Met Ala Leu His Leu Pro Trp Phe 120 125 130 135 cac ccc aga aat gtc tcc ggc ttc agc att gca aac cgc tca tct ata 667 His Pro Arg Asn Val Ser Gly Phe Ser Ile Ala Asn Arg Ser Ser Ile 140 145 150 aaa cgt ctg tgc atc atc gag tct gtg ttt gag ggt gaa ggc tca gca 715 Lys Arg Leu Cys Ile Ile Glu Ser Val Phe Glu Gly Glu Gly Ser Ala 155 160 165 acc ctg atg tct gcc aac tac cca gaa ggc ttc cct gag gat gag ctc 763 Thr Leu Met Ser Ala Asn Tyr Pro Glu Gly Phe Pro Glu Asp Glu Leu 170 175 180 atg acg tgg cag ttt gtc gtt cct gca cac ctg cgg gcc agc gtc tcc 811 Met Thr Trp Gln Phe Val Val Pro Ala His Leu Arg Ala Ser Val Ser 185 190 195 ttc ctc aac ttc aac ctc tcc aac tgt gag agg aag gag gag cgg gtt 859 Phe Leu Asn Phe Asn Leu Ser Asn Cys Glu Arg Lys Glu Glu Arg Val 200 205 210 215 gaa tac tac atc ccg ggc tcc acc acc aac ccc gag gtg ttc aag ctg 907 Glu Tyr Tyr Ile Pro Gly Ser Thr Thr Asn Pro Glu Val Phe Lys Leu 220 225 230 gag gac aag cag cct ggg aac atg gcg ggg aac ttc aac ctc tct ctg 955 Glu Asp Lys Gln Pro Gly Asn Met Ala Gly Asn Phe Asn Leu Ser Leu 235 240 245 caa ggc tgt gac caa gat gcc caa agt cca ggg atc ctc cgg ctg cag 1003 Gln Gly Cys Asp Gln Asp Ala Gln Ser Pro Gly Ile Leu Arg Leu Gln 250 255 260 ttc caa gtt ttg gtc caa cat cca caa aat gaa agc aat aaa atc tac 1051 Phe Gln Val Leu Val Gln His Pro Gln Asn Glu Ser Asn Lys Ile Tyr 265 270 275 gtg gtt gac ttg agt aat gag cga gcc atg tca ctc acc atc gag cca 1099 Val Val Asp Leu Ser Asn Glu Arg Ala Met Ser Leu Thr Ile Glu Pro 280 285 290 295 cgg ccc gtc aaa cag agc cgc aag ttt gtc cct ggc tgt ttc gtg tgt 1147 Arg Pro Val Lys Gln Ser Arg Lys Phe Val Pro Gly Cys Phe Val Cys 300 305 310 cta gaa tct cgg acc tgc agt agc aac ctc acc ctg aca tct ggc tcc 1195 Leu Glu Ser Arg Thr Cys Ser Ser Asn Leu Thr Leu Thr Ser Gly Ser 315 320 325 aaa cac aaa atc tcc ttc ctt tgt gat gat ctg aca cgt ctg tgg atg 1243 Lys His Lys Ile Ser Phe Leu Cys Asp Asp Leu Thr Arg Leu Trp Met 330 335 340 aat gtg gaa aaa acc ata agc tgc aca gac cac cgg tac tgc caa agg 1291 Asn Val Glu Lys Thr Ile Ser Cys Thr Asp His Arg Tyr Cys Gln Arg 345 350 355 aaa tcc tac tca ctc cag gtg ccc agt gac atc ctc cac ctg cct gtg 1339 Lys Ser Tyr Ser Leu Gln Val Pro Ser Asp Ile Leu His Leu Pro Val 360 365 370 375 gag ctg cat gac ttc tcc tgg aag ctg ctg gtg ccc aag gac agg ctc 1387 Glu Leu His Asp Phe Ser Trp Lys Leu Leu Val Pro Lys Asp Arg Leu 380 385 390 agc ctg gtg ctg gtg cca gcc cag aag ctg cag cag cat aca cac gag 1435 Ser Leu Val Leu Val Pro Ala Gln Lys Leu Gln Gln His Thr His Glu 395 400 405 aag ccc tgc aac acc agc ttc agc tac ctc gtg gcc agt gcc ata ccc 1483 Lys Pro Cys Asn Thr Ser Phe Ser Tyr Leu Val Ala Ser Ala Ile Pro 410 415 420 agc cag gac ctg tac ttc ggc tcc ttc tgc ccg gga ggc tct atc aag 1531 Ser Gln Asp Leu Tyr Phe Gly Ser Phe Cys Pro Gly Gly Ser Ile Lys 425 430 435 cag atc cag gtg aag cag aac atc tcg gtg acc ctt cgc acc ttt gcc 1579 Gln Ile Gln Val Lys Gln Asn Ile Ser Val Thr Leu Arg Thr Phe Ala 440 445 450 455 ccc agc ttc caa caa gag gcc tcc agg cag ggt ctg acg gtg tcc ttt 1627 Pro Ser Phe Gln Gln Glu Ala Ser Arg Gln Gly Leu Thr Val Ser Phe 460 465 470 ata cct tat ttc aaa gag gaa ggc gtt ttc acg gtg acc cct gac aca 1675 Ile Pro Tyr Phe Lys Glu Glu Gly Val Phe Thr Val Thr Pro Asp Thr 475 480 485 aaa agc aag gtc tac ctg agg acc ccc aac tgg gac cgg ggc ctg cca 1723 Lys Ser Lys Val Tyr Leu Arg Thr Pro Asn Trp Asp Arg Gly Leu Pro 490 495 500 tcc ctc acc tct gtg tcc tgg aac atc agc gtg ccc aga gac cag gtg 1771 Ser Leu Thr Ser Val Ser Trp Asn Ile Ser Val Pro Arg Asp Gln Val 505 510 515 gcc tgc ctg act ttc ttt aag gag cgg agc ggc gtg gtc tgc cag aca 1819 Ala Cys Leu Thr Phe Phe Lys Glu Arg Ser Gly Val Val Cys Gln Thr 520 525 530 535 ggg cgc gca ttc atg atc atc cag gag cag cgg acc cgg gct gag gag 1867 Gly Arg Ala Phe Met Ile Ile Gln Glu Gln Arg Thr Arg Ala Glu Glu 540 545 550 atc ttc agc ctg gac gag gat gtg ctc ccc aag cca agc ttc cac cat 1915 Ile Phe Ser Leu Asp Glu Asp Val Leu Pro Lys Pro Ser Phe His His 555 560 565 cac agc ttc tgg gtc aac atc tct aac tgc agc ccc acg agc ggc aag 1963 His Ser Phe Trp Val Asn Ile Ser Asn Cys Ser Pro Thr Ser Gly Lys 570 575 580 cag cta gac ctg ctc ttc tcg gtg aca ctt acc cca agg act gtg gac 2011 Gln Leu Asp Leu Leu Phe Ser Val Thr Leu Thr Pro Arg Thr Val Asp 585 590 595 ttg act gtc atc ctc atc gca gcg gtg gga ggt gga gtc tta ctg ctg 2059 Leu Thr Val Ile Leu Ile Ala Ala Val Gly Gly Gly Val Leu Leu Leu 600 605 610 615 tct gcc ctc ggg ctc atc att tgc tgt gtg aaa aag aag aaa aag aag 2107 Ser Ala Leu Gly Leu Ile Ile Cys Cys Val Lys Lys Lys Lys Lys Lys 620 625 630 aca aac aag ggc ccc gct gtg ggt atc tac aat ggc aac atc aat act 2155 Thr Asn Lys Gly Pro Ala Val Gly Ile Tyr Asn Gly Asn Ile Asn Thr 635 640 645 gag atg cca ggc agc caa aaa agt ttc aga aag ggc gaa agg aca atg 2203 Glu Met Pro Gly Ser Gln Lys Ser Phe Arg Lys Gly Glu Arg Thr Met 650 655 660 act ccc atg tgt atg cag tca tcg agg aca cca tgg tat atg ggc atc 2251 Thr Pro Met Cys Met Gln Ser Ser Arg Thr Pro Trp Tyr Met Gly Ile 665 670 675 tgc tac agg att cca gcg gct cct tcc tgc agc cag agg tgg aca cct 2299 Cys Tyr Arg Ile Pro Ala Ala Pro Ser Cys Ser Gln Arg Trp Thr Pro 680 685 690 695 acc ggc cgt tcc agg gca cca tgg ggg tct gtc ctc cct ccc cac cca 2347 Thr Gly Arg Ser Arg Ala Pro Trp Gly Ser Val Leu Pro Pro His Pro 700 705 710 cca tat gct cca ggg ccc caa ctg caa agt tgg cca ctg agg agc cac 2395 Pro Tyr Ala Pro Gly Pro Gln Leu Gln Ser Trp Pro Leu Arg Ser His 715 720 725 ctc ctc gct ccc ctc ctg agt ctg aga gtg aac cgt aca cct tct ccc 2443 Leu Leu Ala Pro Leu Leu Ser Leu Arg Val Asn Arg Thr Pro Ser Pro 730 735 740 atc cca aca atg ggg atg taa gcagcaagga cacagacatt cccttactga 2494 Ile Pro Thr Met Gly Met 745 acactcagga gcccatggag ccagcagaat aacttgatcc attccagacg ctttgctgag 2554 tttcataaag cagggcactg agacacccgt ccgtgttcct aaccagaaat cctaaagaag 2614 aggaattata cagaaggaac agcaggaggt tttcctggac accgccaact tcacattgct 2674 cagtggactc attctaaggg caagacattg aaaatgatga attccaatct ggatacagtc 2734 atgacagctc atgtgctcct caacttaggc tgtgcggtta gccagcctgt aatgagagga 2794 gagaggcctg agtcacctag catagggttg cagcaagccc tggattcaga gtgttaaaca 2854 gaggcttgcc ctcttcagga caacagttcc aattccaagg agcctacctg aggtccctac 2914 tctcactggg gtccccagga tgaaaacgac aatgtgcctt tttattatta tttatttggt 2974 ggtcctgtgt tatttaagag atcaaatgta taaccaccta gctcttttca cctgacttag 3034 taataactca tactaactgg tttggatgcc tgggttgtga cttctactga ccgctagata 3094 aacgtgtgcc tgtcccccag gtggtgggaa taatttacaa tctgtccaac cagaaaagaa 3154 tgtgtgtgtt tgagcagcat tgacacatat ctgctttgat aagagacttc ctgattctct 3214 aggtcggttc gtggttatcc cattgtggaa attcatcttg aatcccattg tcctatagtc 3274 ctagcaataa gagaaatttc ctcaagtttc catgtgcggt tctcctagct gcagcaatac 3334 tttgacattt aaagagaaat ttagagaata ttctcatcct ctaaaaatgt ttaaatatat 3394 accaaacagt ggccccctgc attagttttc tgttgccact gcaacccatt acttggtagc 3454 ttaaaaacaa cacattagct tatagtcctg gggatcagaa ttccaaaatg gatgtccctg 3514 aatgaaaatc aaggtgtcag cagagctgtg ctccttctga aggctctagg gagaagccgg 3574 ttccttgcca tttcaagctt ctagaggctg gctgcattcc caggctccag tggctggtca 3634 agcttttctc acatggcatc actgtgacac tggccctccc acttccctct ttgacttaca 3694 aagcccacca ggaagatcca ggataatctc tccatctaaa gatccttcat catcctggaa 3754 gagccttttg ccatgcaaga caacatagcc acaggtgggg attaggacca ggacatcttt 3814 ggggtgctgt tattctgcct accacacctt cctgccacbg actcccacag gagaggctac 3874 aaaatgatct ggcgcacagg gatgttttgt ttagcttgcg gactctaaca cttaaaaaaa 3934 ccccagatca gaagatctgg ccatgctggg gctcacattc tcacctagca acaactggct 3994 ggagctgggc accagctctg cctttagaag gggtgtccac ttcaccaggt caccacagcc 4054 cacactacgc cctatcactt cccacaatga ggctaagtgt ttgtttctac tgatcaatgc 4114 ccctgcaggt tgcatttatt gtaatgaaaa agaaagactg ggattaatct ctaatcaggt 4174 gagtagacca tgagaccaat gtgtgctcac attacccttt ttcttttttt tctttttctt 4234 tttctttttt tttttaatgt gagacaggat ctcattctgt tgcctaggct ggagtgcagt 4294 ggcgcaatct cggctcactg caacctctgc ctcctgggct caagcaattc tcccacctca 4354 gcctcccaaa tagctgggat cactggcaca aaccaccatg cccagctaat tttgtatttt 4414 ttgtagagac agggtttcac catgttgccc aggctggtct caacctcctg ggctcaagca 4474 atcctcctgc ctcggcctcc caaagtgctg ggattacaga tgtgagccac cgcatccagc 4534 cccacaccct catttatacc aattacctgc ccagtaactg tggacttttg cttcctcacc 4594 cctgctctga tctggaagga gagggattat gttatagctt gtcagcacag tcccaagttc 4654 aatatttctg cggcaaaaac ttccttcaaa aaataaatgt acttcattgt attcaatgaa 4714 ttcaccttgg aaatgcaccg cctcaacttg ttcacatggc ataaatgaaa ggaattttat 4774 agtctcctaa atggcgtgta ctgcaagacc tcttgaacac tttccagagg ataggatatt 4834 taagtcatgc ccttggcgtt gcctatggca cctttccctt ctgaaagtct ggttcctgcc 4894 cagtgaccct tggccttgtg agccgagatg ctgaccctgc ataaagggcc aaaggagggc 4954 tgcggcttcc ttccctcact gaagagccct tatttgaatt cactgtgtgg agccctagcc 5014 ctccattctc gacattcccc aacctcccag ccccttccaa gcaggactag gtgccctgca 5074 ttccacccaa ggtgggattg gccttcctta ggctggctac ttgtcaccat caccgacatc 5134 actgttgcct gcaaggacac cacgtggcca ttttccttca actgagggct caaaactcct 5194 ggacaagttg ctggctcctg agaccagtat ttcctggagm tgtgcctcag tgaaggggcc 5254 cagcctgagg aaccctggct cttttcttta aagcccaggc cccacttaca taaaacattt 5314 cagggtcact ggaaacagtg aagtgccatt tgtngaagcc tactgnatgc cagcccactg 5374 ctcatccacg tggtatgcca tgcctacgag gaaggccagc gcatgcagga ntggtctcta 5434 atgntgtggt cattgcacag aagggaaagg tctcaaggaa gagtcaactg ggacaagcac 5494 aagcccaccg gacatggcct tggtaaaggt tagcagactg gtgtgtgtgg atctgcagtg 5554 cttcactgga aataatttat tcattgcaga tactttttag gtggcatttt attcatttcc 5614 tgtgctttaa ataaacaaat gtaccaaaaa acaagtatca agctgtttaa gtgcttcggc 5674 tacttgtccc ctggttcagt agaggccccg gtttcccagt tgttgactgt gacaggctca 5734 gcatgggctc agcagatgct gtcttaattt gtggatgata cagaaagcca ggctttggga 5794 tacaagttct ttcctcttca tttgatgccg tgcactgtgt gaagcagatg tttttgtccg 5854 gaaataaaaa taatagtctt ggagtctcgc caaaaaaaaa aag 5897 <210> SEQ ID NO 2 <211> LENGTH: 749 <212> TYPE: PRT <213> ORGANISM: Homo sapiens <400> SEQUENCE: 2 Met Leu Ser Ile Lys Ser Gly Glu Arg Ile Val Phe Thr Phe Ser Cys 1 5 10 15 Gln Ser Pro Glu Asn His Phe Val Ile Glu Ile Gln Lys Asn Ile Asp 20 25 30 Cys Met Ser Gly Pro Cys Pro Phe Gly Glu Val Gln Leu Gln Pro Ser 35 40 45 Thr Ser Leu Leu Pro Thr Leu Asn Arg Thr Phe Ile Trp Asp Val Lys 50 55 60 Ala His Lys Ser Ile Gly Leu Glu Leu Gln Phe Ser Ile Pro Arg Leu 65 70 75 80 Arg Gln Ile Gly Pro Gly Glu Ser Cys Pro Asp Gly Val Thr His Ser 85 90 95 Ile Ser Gly Arg Ile Asp Ala Thr Val Val Arg Ile Gly Thr Phe Cys 100 105 110 Ser Asn Gly Thr Val Ser Arg Ile Lys Met Gln Glu Gly Val Lys Met 115 120 125 Ala Leu His Leu Pro Trp Phe His Pro Arg Asn Val Ser Gly Phe Ser 130 135 140 Ile Ala Asn Arg Ser Ser Ile Lys Arg Leu Cys Ile Ile Glu Ser Val 145 150 155 160 Phe Glu Gly Glu Gly Ser Ala Thr Leu Met Ser Ala Asn Tyr Pro Glu 165 170 175 Gly Phe Pro Glu Asp Glu Leu Met Thr Trp Gln Phe Val Val Pro Ala 180 185 190 His Leu Arg Ala Ser Val Ser Phe Leu Asn Phe Asn Leu Ser Asn Cys 195 200 205 Glu Arg Lys Glu Glu Arg Val Glu Tyr Tyr Ile Pro Gly Ser Thr Thr 210 215 220 Asn Pro Glu Val Phe Lys Leu Glu Asp Lys Gln Pro Gly Asn Met Ala 225 230 235 240 Gly Asn Phe Asn Leu Ser Leu Gln Gly Cys Asp Gln Asp Ala Gln Ser 245 250 255 Pro Gly Ile Leu Arg Leu Gln Phe Gln Val Leu Val Gln His Pro Gln 260 265 270 Asn Glu Ser Asn Lys Ile Tyr Val Val Asp Leu Ser Asn Glu Arg Ala 275 280 285 Met Ser Leu Thr Ile Glu Pro Arg Pro Val Lys Gln Ser Arg Lys Phe 290 295 300 Val Pro Gly Cys Phe Val Cys Leu Glu Ser Arg Thr Cys Ser Ser Asn 305 310 315 320 Leu Thr Leu Thr Ser Gly Ser Lys His Lys Ile Ser Phe Leu Cys Asp 325 330 335 Asp Leu Thr Arg Leu Trp Met Asn Val Glu Lys Thr Ile Ser Cys Thr 340 345 350 Asp His Arg Tyr Cys Gln Arg Lys Ser Tyr Ser Leu Gln Val Pro Ser 355 360 365 Asp Ile Leu His Leu Pro Val Glu Leu His Asp Phe Ser Trp Lys Leu 370 375 380 Leu Val Pro Lys Asp Arg Leu Ser Leu Val Leu Val Pro Ala Gln Lys 385 390 395 400 Leu Gln Gln His Thr His Glu Lys Pro Cys Asn Thr Ser Phe Ser Tyr 405 410 415 Leu Val Ala Ser Ala Ile Pro Ser Gln Asp Leu Tyr Phe Gly Ser Phe 420 425 430 Cys Pro Gly Gly Ser Ile Lys Gln Ile Gln Val Lys Gln Asn Ile Ser 435 440 445 Val Thr Leu Arg Thr Phe Ala Pro Ser Phe Gln Gln Glu Ala Ser Arg 450 455 460 Gln Gly Leu Thr Val Ser Phe Ile Pro Tyr Phe Lys Glu Glu Gly Val 465 470 475 480 Phe Thr Val Thr Pro Asp Thr Lys Ser Lys Val Tyr Leu Arg Thr Pro 485 490 495 Asn Trp Asp Arg Gly Leu Pro Ser Leu Thr Ser Val Ser Trp Asn Ile 500 505 510 Ser Val Pro Arg Asp Gln Val Ala Cys Leu Thr Phe Phe Lys Glu Arg 515 520 525 Ser Gly Val Val Cys Gln Thr Gly Arg Ala Phe Met Ile Ile Gln Glu 530 535 540 Gln Arg Thr Arg Ala Glu Glu Ile Phe Ser Leu Asp Glu Asp Val Leu 545 550 555 560 Pro Lys Pro Ser Phe His His His Ser Phe Trp Val Asn Ile Ser Asn 565 570 575 Cys Ser Pro Thr Ser Gly Lys Gln Leu Asp Leu Leu Phe Ser Val Thr 580 585 590 Leu Thr Pro Arg Thr Val Asp Leu Thr Val Ile Leu Ile Ala Ala Val 595 600 605 Gly Gly Gly Val Leu Leu Leu Ser Ala Leu Gly Leu Ile Ile Cys Cys 610 615 620 Val Lys Lys Lys Lys Lys Lys Thr Asn Lys Gly Pro Ala Val Gly Ile 625 630 635 640 Tyr Asn Gly Asn Ile Asn Thr Glu Met Pro Gly Ser Gln Lys Ser Phe 645 650 655 Arg Lys Gly Glu Arg Thr Met Thr Pro Met Cys Met Gln Ser Ser Arg 660 665 670 Thr Pro Trp Tyr Met Gly Ile Cys Tyr Arg Ile Pro Ala Ala Pro Ser 675 680 685 Cys Ser Gln Arg Trp Thr Pro Thr Gly Arg Ser Arg Ala Pro Trp Gly 690 695 700 Ser Val Leu Pro Pro His Pro Pro Tyr Ala Pro Gly Pro Gln Leu Gln 705 710 715 720 Ser Trp Pro Leu Arg Ser His Leu Leu Ala Pro Leu Leu Ser Leu Arg 725 730 735 Val Asn Arg Thr Pro Ser Pro Ile Pro Thr Met Gly Met 740 745 <210> SEQ ID NO 3 <211> LENGTH: 6163 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Homo sapiens <220> FEATURE: <221> NAME/KEY: 5′UTR <222> LOCATION: (1)..(282) <221> NAME/KEY: GC_signal <222> LOCATION: (147)..(157) <221> NAME/KEY: misc_feature <222> LOCATION: (201)..(209) <223> OTHER INFORMATION: cap signal; Transcription start <221> NAME/KEY: 3′UTR <222> LOCATION: (2794)..(6163) <221> NAME/KEY: 3′UTR <222> LOCATION: (2794)..(6163) <221> NAME/KEY: CDS <222> LOCATION: (283)..(2793) <400> SEQUENCE: 3 ccaacgccgc aatggggagt agtagggacc cagcaacccg gtgccgggag ccctgcaccc 60 tgggagggag aggcggtcgc tgaggcagga agaggaggag gagagagagg agggacgcac 120 cgggtcagct cgcgatcctg ctgcgcaggg cggggctcgg gccggtccgc ccgcgcgcag 180 gtgagtgagc cagggcggag cgcagctgcg ccgggcttgg gcgcctgggg ccgccgctcc 240 ccaccgtcgt tttccccacc gaggccgagg cgtcccggag tc atg gcc ggc ctg 294 Met Ala Gly Leu 1 aac tgc ggg gtc tct atc gca ctg cta ggg gtt ctg ctg ctg ggt gcg 342 Asn Cys Gly Val Ser Ile Ala Leu Leu Gly Val Leu Leu Leu Gly Ala 5 10 15 20 gcg cgc ctg ccg cgc ggg gca gaa gct ttt gag att gct ctg cca cga 390 Ala Arg Leu Pro Arg Gly Ala Glu Ala Phe Glu Ile Ala Leu Pro Arg 25 30 35 gaa agc aac att aca gtt ctc ata aag ctg ggg acc ccg act ctg ctg 438 Glu Ser Asn Ile Thr Val Leu Ile Lys Leu Gly Thr Pro Thr Leu Leu 40 45 50 gca aaa ccc tgt tac atc gtc att tct aaa aga cat ata acc atg ttg 486 Ala Lys Pro Cys Tyr Ile Val Ile Ser Lys Arg His Ile Thr Met Leu 55 60 65 tcc atc aag tct gga gaa aga ata gtc ttt acc ttt agc tgc cag agt 534 Ser Ile Lys Ser Gly Glu Arg Ile Val Phe Thr Phe Ser Cys Gln Ser 70 75 80 cct gag aat cac ttt gtc ata gag atc cag aaa aat att gac tgt atg 582 Pro Glu Asn His Phe Val Ile Glu Ile Gln Lys Asn Ile Asp Cys Met 85 90 95 100 tca ggc cca tgt cct ttt ggg gag gtt cag ctt cag ccc tcg aca tcg 630 Ser Gly Pro Cys Pro Phe Gly Glu Val Gln Leu Gln Pro Ser Thr Ser 105 110 115 ttg ttg cct acc ctc aac aga act ttc atc tgg gat gtc aaa gct cat 678 Leu Leu Pro Thr Leu Asn Arg Thr Phe Ile Trp Asp Val Lys Ala His 120 125 130 aag agc atc ggt tta gag ctg cag ttt tcc atc cct cgc ctg agg cag 726 Lys Ser Ile Gly Leu Glu Leu Gln Phe Ser Ile Pro Arg Leu Arg Gln 135 140 145 atc ggt ccg ggt gag agc tgc cca gac gga gtc act cac tcc atc agc 774 Ile Gly Pro Gly Glu Ser Cys Pro Asp Gly Val Thr His Ser Ile Ser 150 155 160 ggc cga atc gat gcc acc gtg gtc agg atc gga acc ttc tgc agc aat 822 Gly Arg Ile Asp Ala Thr Val Val Arg Ile Gly Thr Phe Cys Ser Asn 165 170 175 180 ggc act gtg tcc cgg atc aag atg caa gaa gga gtg aaa atg gcc tta 870 Gly Thr Val Ser Arg Ile Lys Met Gln Glu Gly Val Lys Met Ala Leu 185 190 195 cac ctc cca tgg ttc cac ccc aga aat gtc tcc ggc ttc agc att gca 918 His Leu Pro Trp Phe His Pro Arg Asn Val Ser Gly Phe Ser Ile Ala 200 205 210 aac cgc tca tct ata aaa cgt ctg tgc atc atc gag tct gtg ttt gag 966 Asn Arg Ser Ser Ile Lys Arg Leu Cys Ile Ile Glu Ser Val Phe Glu 215 220 225 ggt gaa ggc tca gca acc ctg atg tct gcc aac tac cca gaa ggc ttc 1014 Gly Glu Gly Ser Ala Thr Leu Met Ser Ala Asn Tyr Pro Glu Gly Phe 230 235 240 cct gag gat gag ctc atg acg tgg cag ttt gtc gtt cct gca cac ctg 1062 Pro Glu Asp Glu Leu Met Thr Trp Gln Phe Val Val Pro Ala His Leu 245 250 255 260 cgg gcc agc gtc tcc ttc ctc aac ttc aac ctc tcc aac tgt gag agg 1110 Arg Ala Ser Val Ser Phe Leu Asn Phe Asn Leu Ser Asn Cys Glu Arg 265 270 275 aag gag gag cgg gtt gaa tac tac atc ccg ggc tcc acc acc aac ccc 1158 Lys Glu Glu Arg Val Glu Tyr Tyr Ile Pro Gly Ser Thr Thr Asn Pro 280 285 290 gag gtg ttc aag ctg gag gac aag cag cct ggg aac atg gcg ggg aac 1206 Glu Val Phe Lys Leu Glu Asp Lys Gln Pro Gly Asn Met Ala Gly Asn 295 300 305 ttc aac ctc tct ctg caa ggc tgt gac caa gat gcc caa agt cca ggg 1254 Phe Asn Leu Ser Leu Gln Gly Cys Asp Gln Asp Ala Gln Ser Pro Gly 310 315 320 atc ctc cgg ctg cag ttc caa gtt ttg gtc caa cat cca caa aat gaa 1302 Ile Leu Arg Leu Gln Phe Gln Val Leu Val Gln His Pro Gln Asn Glu 325 330 335 340 agc aat aaa atc tac gtg gtt gac ttg agt aat gag cga gcc atg tca 1350 Ser Asn Lys Ile Tyr Val Val Asp Leu Ser Asn Glu Arg Ala Met Ser 345 350 355 ctc acc atc gag cca cgg ccc gtc aaa cag agc cgc aag ttt gtc cct 1398 Leu Thr Ile Glu Pro Arg Pro Val Lys Gln Ser Arg Lys Phe Val Pro 360 365 370 ggc tgt ttc gtg tgt cta gaa tct cgg acc tgc agt agc aac ctc acc 1446 Gly Cys Phe Val Cys Leu Glu Ser Arg Thr Cys Ser Ser Asn Leu Thr 375 380 385 ctg aca tct ggc tcc aaa cac aaa atc tcc ttc ctt tgt gat gat ctg 1494 Leu Thr Ser Gly Ser Lys His Lys Ile Ser Phe Leu Cys Asp Asp Leu 390 395 400 aca cgt ctg tgg atg aat gtg gaa aaa acc ata agc tgc aca gac cac 1542 Thr Arg Leu Trp Met Asn Val Glu Lys Thr Ile Ser Cys Thr Asp His 405 410 415 420 cgg tac tgc caa agg aaa tcc tac tca ctc cag gtg ccc agt gac atc 1590 Arg Tyr Cys Gln Arg Lys Ser Tyr Ser Leu Gln Val Pro Ser Asp Ile 425 430 435 ctc cac ctg cct gtg gag ctg cat gac ttc tcc tgg aag ctg ctg gtg 1638 Leu His Leu Pro Val Glu Leu His Asp Phe Ser Trp Lys Leu Leu Val 440 445 450 ccc aag gac agg ctc agc ctg gtg ctg gtg cca gcc cag aag ctg cag 1686 Pro Lys Asp Arg Leu Ser Leu Val Leu Val Pro Ala Gln Lys Leu Gln 455 460 465 cag cat aca cac gag aag ccc tgc aac acc agc ttc agc tac ctc gtg 1734 Gln His Thr His Glu Lys Pro Cys Asn Thr Ser Phe Ser Tyr Leu Val 470 475 480 gcc agt gcc ata ccc agc cag gac ctg tac ttc ggc tcc ttc tgc ccg 1782 Ala Ser Ala Ile Pro Ser Gln Asp Leu Tyr Phe Gly Ser Phe Cys Pro 485 490 495 500 gga ggc tct atc aag cag atc cag gtg aag cag aac atc tcg gtg acc 1830 Gly Gly Ser Ile Lys Gln Ile Gln Val Lys Gln Asn Ile Ser Val Thr 505 510 515 ctt cgc acc ttt gcc ccc agc ttc caa caa gag gcc tcc agg cag ggt 1878 Leu Arg Thr Phe Ala Pro Ser Phe Gln Gln Glu Ala Ser Arg Gln Gly 520 525 530 ctg acg gtg tcc ttt ata cct tat ttc aaa gag gaa ggc gtt ttc acg 1926 Leu Thr Val Ser Phe Ile Pro Tyr Phe Lys Glu Glu Gly Val Phe Thr 535 540 545 gtg acc cct gac aca aaa agc aag gtc tac ctg agg acc ccc aac tgg 1974 Val Thr Pro Asp Thr Lys Ser Lys Val Tyr Leu Arg Thr Pro Asn Trp 550 555 560 gac cgg ggc ctg cca tcc ctc acc tct gtg tcc tgg aac atc agc gtg 2022 Asp Arg Gly Leu Pro Ser Leu Thr Ser Val Ser Trp Asn Ile Ser Val 565 570 575 580 ccc aga gac cag gtg gcc tgc ctg act ttc ttt aag gag cgg agc ggc 2070 Pro Arg Asp Gln Val Ala Cys Leu Thr Phe Phe Lys Glu Arg Ser Gly 585 590 595 gtg gtc tgc cag aca ggg cgc gca ttc atg atc atc cag gag cag cgg 2118 Val Val Cys Gln Thr Gly Arg Ala Phe Met Ile Ile Gln Glu Gln Arg 600 605 610 acc cgg gct gag gag atc ttc agc ctg gac gag gat gtg ctc ccc aag 2166 Thr Arg Ala Glu Glu Ile Phe Ser Leu Asp Glu Asp Val Leu Pro Lys 615 620 625 cca agc ttc cac cat cac agc ttc tgg gtc aac atc tct aac tgc agc 2214 Pro Ser Phe His His His Ser Phe Trp Val Asn Ile Ser Asn Cys Ser 630 635 640 ccc acg agc ggc aag cag cta gac ctg ctc ttc tcg gtg aca ctt acc 2262 Pro Thr Ser Gly Lys Gln Leu Asp Leu Leu Phe Ser Val Thr Leu Thr 645 650 655 660 cca agg act gtg gac ttg act gtc atc ctc atc gca gcg gtg gga ggt 2310 Pro Arg Thr Val Asp Leu Thr Val Ile Leu Ile Ala Ala Val Gly Gly 665 670 675 gga gtc tta ctg ctg tct gcc ctc ggg ctc atc att tgc tgt gtg aaa 2358 Gly Val Leu Leu Leu Ser Ala Leu Gly Leu Ile Ile Cys Cys Val Lys 680 685 690 aag aag aaa aag aag aca aac aag ggc ccc gct gtg ggt atc tac aat 2406 Lys Lys Lys Lys Lys Thr Asn Lys Gly Pro Ala Val Gly Ile Tyr Asn 695 700 705 ggc aac atc aat act gag atg ccg agg cag cca aaa aag ttt cag aaa 2454 Gly Asn Ile Asn Thr Glu Met Pro Arg Gln Pro Lys Lys Phe Gln Lys 710 715 720 ggg cga aag gac aat gac tcc cat gtg tat gca gtc atc gag gac acc 2502 Gly Arg Lys Asp Asn Asp Ser His Val Tyr Ala Val Ile Glu Asp Thr 725 730 735 740 atg gta tat ggg cat ctg cta cag gat tcc agc ggc tcc ttc ctg cag 2550 Met Val Tyr Gly His Leu Leu Gln Asp Ser Ser Gly Ser Phe Leu Gln 745 750 755 cca gag gtg gac acc tac cgg ccg ttc cag ggc acc atg ggg gtc tgt 2598 Pro Glu Val Asp Thr Tyr Arg Pro Phe Gln Gly Thr Met Gly Val Cys 760 765 770 cct ccc tcc cca ccc acc ata tgc tcc agg gcc cca act gca aag ttg 2646 Pro Pro Ser Pro Pro Thr Ile Cys Ser Arg Ala Pro Thr Ala Lys Leu 775 780 785 gcc act gag gag cca cct cct cgc tcc cct cct gag tct gag agt gaa 2694 Ala Thr Glu Glu Pro Pro Pro Arg Ser Pro Pro Glu Ser Glu Ser Glu 790 795 800 ccg tac acc ttc tcc cat ccc aac aat ggg gat gta agc agc aag gac 2742 Pro Tyr Thr Phe Ser His Pro Asn Asn Gly Asp Val Ser Ser Lys Asp 805 810 815 820 aca gac att ccc tta ctg aac act cag gag ccc atg gag cca gca gaa 2790 Thr Asp Ile Pro Leu Leu Asn Thr Gln Glu Pro Met Glu Pro Ala Glu 825 830 835 taa cttgatccat tccagacgct ttgctgagtt tcataaagca gggcactgag 2843 acacccgtcc gtgttcctaa ccagaaatcc taaagaagag gaattataca gaaggaacag 2903 caggaggttt tcctggacac cgccaacttc acattgctca gtggactcat tctaagggca 2963 agacattgaa aatgatgaat tccaatctgg atacagtcat gacagctcat gtgctcctca 3023 acttaggctg tgcggttagc cagcctgtaa tgagaggaga gaggcctgag tcacctagca 3083 tagggttgca gcaagccctg gattcagagt gttaaacaga ggcttgccct cttcaggaca 3143 acagttccaa ttccaaggag cctacctgag gtccctactc tcactggggt ccccaggatg 3203 aaaacgacaa tgtgcctttt tattattatt tatttggtgg tcctgtgtta tttaagagat 3263 caaatgtata accacctagc tcttttcacc tgacttagta ataactcata ctaactggtt 3323 tggatgcctg ggttgtgact tctactgacc gctagataaa cgtgtgcctg tcccccaggt 3383 ggtgggaata atttacaatc tgtccaacca gaaaagaatg tgtgtgtttg agcagcattg 3443 acacatatct gctttgataa gagacttcct gattctctag gtcggttcgt ggttatccca 3503 ttgtggaaat tcatcttgaa tcccattgtc ctatagtcct agcaataaga gaaatttcct 3563 caagtttcca tgtgcggttc tcctagctgc agcaatactt tgacatttaa agagaaattt 3623 agagaatatt ctcatcctct aaaaatgttt aaatatatac caaacagtgg ccccctgcat 3683 tagttttctg ttgccactgc aacccattac ttggtagctt aaaaacaaca cattagctta 3743 tagtcctggg gatcagaatt ccaaaatgga tgtccctgaa tgaaaatcaa ggtgtcagca 3803 gagctgtgct ccttctgaag gctctaggga gaagccggtt ccttgccatt tcaagcttct 3863 agaggctggc tgcattccca ggctccagtg gctggtcaag cttttctcac atggcatcac 3923 tgtgacactg gccctcccac ttccctcttt gacttacaaa gcccaccagg aagatccagg 3983 ataatctctc catctaaaga tccttcatca tcctggaaga gccttttgcc atgcaagaca 4043 acatagccac aggtggggat taggaccagg acatctttgg ggtgctgtta ttctgcctac 4103 cacaccttcc tgccactgac tcccacagga gaggctacaa aatgatctgg cgcacaggga 4163 tgttttgttt agcttgcgga ctctaacact taaaaaaacc ccagatcaga agatctggcc 4223 atgctggggc tcacattctc acctagcaac aactggctgg agctgggcac cagctctgcc 4283 tttagaaggg gtgtccactt caccaggtca ccacagccca cactacgccc tatcacttcc 4343 cacaatgagg ctaagtgttt gtttctactg atcaatgccc ctgcaggttg catttattgt 4403 aatgaaaaag aaagactggg attaatctct aatcaggtga gtagaccatg agaccaatgt 4463 gtgctcacat tacccttttt cttttttttc tttttctttt tctttttttt tttaatgtga 4523 gacaggatct cattctgttg cctaggctgg agtgcagtgg cgcaatctcg gctcactgca 4583 acctctgcct cctgggctca agcaattctc ccacctcagc ctcccaaata gctgggatca 4643 ctggcacaaa ccaccatgcc cagctaattt tgtatttttt gtagagacag ggtttcacca 4703 tgttgcccag gctggtctca acctcctggg ctcaagcaat cctcctgcct cggcctccca 4763 aagtgctggg attacagatg tgagccaccg catccagccc cacaccctca tttataccaa 4823 ttacctgccc agtaactgtg gacttttgct tcctcacccc tgctctgatc tggaaggaga 4883 gggattatgt tatagcttgt cagcacagtc ccaagttcaa tatttctgcg gcaaaaactt 4943 ccttcaaaaa ataaatgtac ttcattgtat tcaatgaatt caccttggaa atgcaccgcc 5003 tcaacttgtt cacatggcat aaatgaaagg aattttatag tctcctaaat ggcgtgtact 5063 gcaagacctc ttgaacactt tccagaggat aggatattta agtcatgccc ttggcgttgc 5123 ctatggcacc tttcccttct gaaagtctgg ttcctgccca gtgacccttg gccttgtgag 5183 ccgagatgct gaccctgcat aaagggccaa aggagggctg cggcttcctt ccctcactga 5243 agagccctta tttgaattca ctgtgtggag ccctagccct ccattctcga cattccccaa 5303 cctcccagcc ccttccaagc aggactaggt gccctgcatt ccacccaagg tgggattggc 5363 cttccttagg ctggctactt gtcaccatca ccgacatcac tgttgcctgc aaggacacca 5423 cgtggccatt ttccttcaac tgagggctca aaactcctgg acaagttgct ggctcctgag 5483 accagtattt cctggagctg tgcctcagtg aaggggccca gcctgaggaa ccctggctct 5543 tttctttaaa gcccaggccc cacttacata aaacatttca gggtcactgg aaacagtgaa 5603 gtgccatttg ttgaagccta ctgcatgcca gcccactgct catccacgtg gtctgccatg 5663 cctacgagga aggccagcgc atgcaggact ggtctctaat gctgtggtca ttgcacagaa 5723 gggaaaggtc tcaaggaaga gtcaactggg acaagcacaa gcccaccgga catggccttg 5783 gtaaaggtta gcagactggt gtgtgtggat ctgcagtgct tcactggaaa taatttattc 5843 attgcagata ctttttaggt ggcattttat tcatttcctg tgctttaaat aaacaaatgt 5903 accaaaaaac aagtatcaag ctgtttaagt gcttcggcta cttgtcccct ggttcagtag 5963 aggccccggt ttcccagttg ttgactgtga caggctcagc atgggctcag cagatgctgt 6023 cttaatttgt ggatgataca gaaagccagg ctttgggata caagttcttt cctcttcatt 6083 tgatgccgtg cactgtgtga agcagatgtt tttgtccgga aataaaaata atagtcttgg 6143 agtctcgcca aaaaaaaaaa 6163 <210> SEQ ID NO 4 <211> LENGTH: 836 <212> TYPE: PRT <213> ORGANISM: Homo sapiens <400> SEQUENCE: 4 Met Ala Gly Leu Asn Cys Gly Val Ser Ile Ala Leu Leu Gly Val Leu 1 5 10 15 Leu Leu Gly Ala Ala Arg Leu Pro Arg Gly Ala Glu Ala Phe Glu Ile 20 25 30 Ala Leu Pro Arg Glu Ser Asn Ile Thr Val Leu Ile Lys Leu Gly Thr 35 40 45 Pro Thr Leu Leu Ala Lys Pro Cys Tyr Ile Val Ile Ser Lys Arg His 50 55 60 Ile Thr Met Leu Ser Ile Lys Ser Gly Glu Arg Ile Val Phe Thr Phe 65 70 75 80 Ser Cys Gln Ser Pro Glu Asn His Phe Val Ile Glu Ile Gln Lys Asn 85 90 95 Ile Asp Cys Met Ser Gly Pro Cys Pro Phe Gly Glu Val Gln Leu Gln 100 105 110 Pro Ser Thr Ser Leu Leu Pro Thr Leu Asn Arg Thr Phe Ile Trp Asp 115 120 125 Val Lys Ala His Lys Ser Ile Gly Leu Glu Leu Gln Phe Ser Ile Pro 130 135 140 Arg Leu Arg Gln Ile Gly Pro Gly Glu Ser Cys Pro Asp Gly Val Thr 145 150 155 160 His Ser Ile Ser Gly Arg Ile Asp Ala Thr Val Val Arg Ile Gly Thr 165 170 175 Phe Cys Ser Asn Gly Thr Val Ser Arg Ile Lys Met Gln Glu Gly Val 180 185 190 Lys Met Ala Leu His Leu Pro Trp Phe His Pro Arg Asn Val Ser Gly 195 200 205 Phe Ser Ile Ala Asn Arg Ser Ser Ile Lys Arg Leu Cys Ile Ile Glu 210 215 220 Ser Val Phe Glu Gly Glu Gly Ser Ala Thr Leu Met Ser Ala Asn Tyr 225 230 235 240 Pro Glu Gly Phe Pro Glu Asp Glu Leu Met Thr Trp Gln Phe Val Val 245 250 255 Pro Ala His Leu Arg Ala Ser Val Ser Phe Leu Asn Phe Asn Leu Ser 260 265 270 Asn Cys Glu Arg Lys Glu Glu Arg Val Glu Tyr Tyr Ile Pro Gly Ser 275 280 285 Thr Thr Asn Pro Glu Val Phe Lys Leu Glu Asp Lys Gln Pro Gly Asn 290 295 300 Met Ala Gly Asn Phe Asn Leu Ser Leu Gln Gly Cys Asp Gln Asp Ala 305 310 315 320 Gln Ser Pro Gly Ile Leu Arg Leu Gln Phe Gln Val Leu Val Gln His 325 330 335 Pro Gln Asn Glu Ser Asn Lys Ile Tyr Val Val Asp Leu Ser Asn Glu 340 345 350 Arg Ala Met Ser Leu Thr Ile Glu Pro Arg Pro Val Lys Gln Ser Arg 355 360 365 Lys Phe Val Pro Gly Cys Phe Val Cys Leu Glu Ser Arg Thr Cys Ser 370 375 380 Ser Asn Leu Thr Leu Thr Ser Gly Ser Lys His Lys Ile Ser Phe Leu 385 390 395 400 Cys Asp Asp Leu Thr Arg Leu Trp Met Asn Val Glu Lys Thr Ile Ser 405 410 415 Cys Thr Asp His Arg Tyr Cys Gln Arg Lys Ser Tyr Ser Leu Gln Val 420 425 430 Pro Ser Asp Ile Leu His Leu Pro Val Glu Leu His Asp Phe Ser Trp 435 440 445 Lys Leu Leu Val Pro Lys Asp Arg Leu Ser Leu Val Leu Val Pro Ala 450 455 460 Gln Lys Leu Gln Gln His Thr His Glu Lys Pro Cys Asn Thr Ser Phe 465 470 475 480 Ser Tyr Leu Val Ala Ser Ala Ile Pro Ser Gln Asp Leu Tyr Phe Gly 485 490 495 Ser Phe Cys Pro Gly Gly Ser Ile Lys Gln Ile Gln Val Lys Gln Asn 500 505 510 Ile Ser Val Thr Leu Arg Thr Phe Ala Pro Ser Phe Gln Gln Glu Ala 515 520 525 Ser Arg Gln Gly Leu Thr Val Ser Phe Ile Pro Tyr Phe Lys Glu Glu 530 535 540 Gly Val Phe Thr Val Thr Pro Asp Thr Lys Ser Lys Val Tyr Leu Arg 545 550 555 560 Thr Pro Asn Trp Asp Arg Gly Leu Pro Ser Leu Thr Ser Val Ser Trp 565 570 575 Asn Ile Ser Val Pro Arg Asp Gln Val Ala Cys Leu Thr Phe Phe Lys 580 585 590 Glu Arg Ser Gly Val Val Cys Gln Thr Gly Arg Ala Phe Met Ile Ile 595 600 605 Gln Glu Gln Arg Thr Arg Ala Glu Glu Ile Phe Ser Leu Asp Glu Asp 610 615 620 Val Leu Pro Lys Pro Ser Phe His His His Ser Phe Trp Val Asn Ile 625 630 635 640 Ser Asn Cys Ser Pro Thr Ser Gly Lys Gln Leu Asp Leu Leu Phe Ser 645 650 655 Val Thr Leu Thr Pro Arg Thr Val Asp Leu Thr Val Ile Leu Ile Ala 660 665 670 Ala Val Gly Gly Gly Val Leu Leu Leu Ser Ala Leu Gly Leu Ile Ile 675 680 685 Cys Cys Val Lys Lys Lys Lys Lys Lys Thr Asn Lys Gly Pro Ala Val 690 695 700 Gly Ile Tyr Asn Gly Asn Ile Asn Thr Glu Met Pro Arg Gln Pro Lys 705 710 715 720 Lys Phe Gln Lys Gly Arg Lys Asp Asn Asp Ser His Val Tyr Ala Val 725 730 735 Ile Glu Asp Thr Met Val Tyr Gly His Leu Leu Gln Asp Ser Ser Gly 740 745 750 Ser Phe Leu Gln Pro Glu Val Asp Thr Tyr Arg Pro Phe Gln Gly Thr 755 760 765 Met Gly Val Cys Pro Pro Ser Pro Pro Thr Ile Cys Ser Arg Ala Pro 770 775 780 Thr Ala Lys Leu Ala Thr Glu Glu Pro Pro Pro Arg Ser Pro Pro Glu 785 790 795 800 Ser Glu Ser Glu Pro Tyr Thr Phe Ser His Pro Asn Asn Gly Asp Val 805 810 815 Ser Ser Lys Asp Thr Asp Ile Pro Leu Leu Asn Thr Gln Glu Pro Met 820 825 830 Glu Pro Ala Glu 835 <210> SEQ ID NO 5 <211> LENGTH: 23 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 5 accgcctcaa cttgttcaca tgg 23 <210> SEQ ID NO 6 <211> LENGTH: 26 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 6 ctggtctcag gagccagcaa cttgtc 26 <210> SEQ ID NO 7 <211> LENGTH: 25 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 7 ctcatgacgt ggcagtttgt cgttc 25 <210> SEQ ID NO 8 <211> LENGTH: 26 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 8 ggctcgctca ttactcaagt caacca 26 <210> SEQ ID NO 9 <211> LENGTH: 36 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 9 attcgcgact gatgatcgat tttttttttt tttttt 36 <210> SEQ ID NO 10 <211> LENGTH: 20 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 10 attcgcgact gatgatcgat 20 <210> SEQ ID NO 11 <211> LENGTH: 20 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 11 gagatattag aattctactc 20 <210> SEQ ID NO 12 <211> LENGTH: 17 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 12 gagtagaatt ctaatat 17 <210> SEQ ID NO 13 <211> LENGTH: 22 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 13 agtccatgtg aacaagttga gg 22 <210> SEQ ID NO 14 <211> LENGTH: 20 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 14 aattctccca cctcagcctc 20 <210> SEQ ID NO 15 <211> LENGTH: 22 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 15 aggatgaaaa cgacaatgtg cc 22 <210> SEQ ID NO 16 <211> LENGTH: 21 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 16 agaattgctt gagcccagga g 21 <210> SEQ ID NO 17 <211> LENGTH: 21 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 17 caacttcaca ttgctcagtg g 21 <210> SEQ ID NO 18 <211> LENGTH: 25 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 18 tgagcaagtt cagcctggtt aagtc 25 <210> SEQ ID NO 19 <211> LENGTH: 26 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 19 caccgaatac tcataaagaa ggtccc 26 <210> SEQ ID NO 20 <211> LENGTH: 26 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 20 tagacttcga gcaggagatg gccact 26 <210> SEQ ID NO 21 <211> LENGTH: 20 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 21 ccagccatgt acgtagccat 20 <210> SEQ ID NO 22 <211> LENGTH: 19 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 22 ccaagaagga aggctggaa 19 <210> SEQ ID NO 23 <211> LENGTH: 25 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 23 ccatcaccat cttccaggag cgaga 25 <210> SEQ ID NO 24 <211> LENGTH: 19 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 24 ccaagaagga aggctggaa 19 <210> SEQ ID NO 25 <211> LENGTH: 20 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 25 tgcaggaggc attgctgatg 20 <210> SEQ ID NO 26 <211> LENGTH: 19 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 26 aaatcgtgca cttgcaggc 19 <210> SEQ ID NO 27 <211> LENGTH: 18 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 27 ttgatgcgtt ccagctga 18 <210> SEQ ID NO 28 <211> LENGTH: 21 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 28 ttgaattcac tgtgtggagc c 21 <210> SEQ ID NO 29 <211> LENGTH: 19 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 29 tgcaggcaac agtgatgtc 19 <210> SEQ ID NO 30 <211> LENGTH: 24 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 30 attggccttc cttaggctgg ctac 24 <210> SEQ ID NO 31 <211> LENGTH: 43 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 31 tgtagcgtga agacgacaga aagggcgtgg taccgagctc gag 43 <210> SEQ ID NO 32 <211> LENGTH: 22 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 32 agggcgtggt accgagctcg ag 22 <210> SEQ ID NO 33 <211> LENGTH: 11 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 33 ggctcgagct c 11 <210> SEQ ID NO 34 <211> LENGTH: 22 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 34 ggccatgtcc ggtgggcttg tg 22 <210> SEQ ID NO 35 <211> LENGTH: 26 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 35 ctcaaaactc ctggacaagt tgctgg 26 <210> SEQ ID NO 36 <211> LENGTH: 22 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 36 aaggtgaagg tcggagtcaa cg 22 <210> SEQ ID NO 37 <211> LENGTH: 24 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 37 ggcagagatg atgacccttt tggc 24 <210> SEQ ID NO 38 <211> LENGTH: 23 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 38 agcagcagaa cccctagcag tgc 23 <210> SEQ ID NO 39 <211> LENGTH: 26 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 39 agaaccccta gcagtgcgat agagac 26 <210> SEQ ID NO 40 <211> LENGTH: 27 <212> TYPE: DNA <213> ORGANISM: Artificial sequence <220> FEATURE: <223> OTHER INFORMATION: Description of the artificial sequence: Primer <400> SEQUENCE: 40 gaactgtaat gttgctttct cgtggca 27 

1. Tumour-associated antigen designated B345, characterised in that it has the amino acid sequence defined in SEQ ID NO: 4 or contains this as part of its sequence, or a fragment thereof.
 2. Isolated DNA molecule, coding for the tumour-associated antigen defined in claim 1 or for fragments thereof.
 3. DNA molecule according to claim 2, characterised in that it is a polynucleotide with the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 3 or contains this sequence, or in that it is or contains a polynucleotide which hybridises under stringent conditions with a polynucleotide of the sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 3, or a fragment thereof.
 4. Recombinant DNA molecule, containing a DNA molecule according to claim 2 or
 3. 5. Pharmaceutical composition for cancer immunotherapy, containing as active ingredient the tumour-associated antigen designated B345 defined in claim 1 or one or more fragments thereof.
 6. Pharmaceutical composition for cancer immunotherapy, containing as active ingredient a DNA molecule according to one of claims 2 to
 4. 7. Antibody against the polypeptide defined in claim
 1. 8. Antibody according to claim 7, characterised in that it is monoclonal.
 9. Antibody according to claim 7 or 8 for the treatment and diagnosis of cancers associated with the expression of B345. 